


Trying to Get By (Truth about love, it's a hell I'll never get out of alive)

by Spelunkers



Category: Original Work
Genre: Beginnings, First Love, Friendship/Love, Growth, High School, Hijinks & Shenanigans, Teens
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2013-12-30
Updated: 2014-05-09
Packaged: 2018-01-06 19:46:37
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 16
Words: 27,424
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1110804
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Spelunkers/pseuds/Spelunkers
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>High school is a time and place for many different adventures for teenagers that time proves again and again teenagers can be extraordinary. But this story focuses on one particular group of students and how, even in high school, anything can happen.<br/>Follow three friends in high school while they navigate friendship, shenanigans, love, and growing up.</p>
<p>*This is my first story ever but something I've been playing with for a while. Would love comments!!!</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

“Ring” the school bell rang the ten minute warning to homeroom. Students filled the hallways, milling around before school started for the day.

Making her way down the hall was an eleventh grader, skillfully navigating the crowds with her nose in a book and coffee in hand. As if by intuition, she stopped by a locker without looking up where two boys were waiting.

“Good morning campers,” she ruefully looked up from her book at the boys, closing and handing the book to the tall dirty blonde teen next to her and her coffee to his dark hair, pale companion.

“Morning, Max. Did you finish your coffee yet or still grouchy?” Lip chuckled while taking the book from Max. He's known Max since the third grade therefore knowing her habits. Max lived off of coffee and Lip had had one too many run ins with her before she'd finish the coffee; he could only describe the experience as frightening but somehow entertaining.

“Cute,” Max shot Lip a look as she transferred her books from her bag to her locker. She took her book back from Lip to put away and then turned to the other boy who was swishing her traveling mug back and forth.

“Nope, sounds all gone. Too bad, looks like you could use some more-ow!” Dean pulled his hand back when Max slapped it, taking back her mug. Dean should have known better than to mock Max about her coffee.

“You are just so funny. Really.”

“Why thank you. So why did you want to talk before homeroom? You seemed excited in your message last night,” Lip had been curious all night. He recognized Max's tone in the message; she had been planning and he couldn't wait to know what she had been thinking about.

“Oh, ya. Well, I've been thinking,” Max spoke slowly as she pulled out the books she needed. “I think that it's time for Red-5 to make an appearance.” She slammed her locker shut and turned to look at Dean and Lip with her head cocked playfully to the side.

“Any thoughts?”

Lip and Dean froze at first, expressions of shock all over their faces, not believing what they heard. Max waited, smirking. As per their agreement, it had been two years since that name had been uttered out loud and no one, including her, couldn't believe that it was finally time.

“Ring!”

“Got to get to class, you boys coming?” Max grinned and walked away. She always knew how to get a response from others, or the lack of one in this case. Max has perfected the manipulation of people simply through the use of her voice. She couldn't remember the last time she got in trouble for something that she did do.

Max slid into her seat in homeroom as the bell rang, saying hi to other students around her. She counted to fifteen in her head, looking to the door as Dean and Lip slid into the classroom.

_Too predictable._ Max shook her head at them as they took their seats, giving them an unreadable expression as they glanced at her.

Dean took out his iPad as he turned towards Lip.

“Hey, did you have any idea that Max was thinking about...you-know-what already? I mean, I realize that it's been two years and all but, that seemed completely out of the blue, right?” Dean was confused, not that it was hard not to get him that way. People have always puzzled Dean and Max was definitely no exception. He could never read people very well and it always took him a while to understand people. Lucky for him, Lip was an open book, leading to them being best of friends. Max, on the other hand, he's only ever learned how to read her moods, kind of.

Lip sighed, “No man, no clue at all. Something must of triggered an idea for Max for her to not have hinted at this beforehand, it's weird.” Dean furrowed his brow at Lip's comment.

“Not that I'm not excited or anything. We've been waiting for this for too long and I _know_ Max is going to come up with something beyond sweet.”

“I know what you mean, I can't wait to get started with this,” Dean was already occupied with his iPad, setting up encrypted files with prepared documents, ready to go for whatever Max would need and keeping it safe. One thing that Dean knew for sure was how to work computers. The only person that knew them better maybe was Max but it was one talent of hers that she preferred to keep quiet.

Lip glanced at the tablet and knew that Dean was done with the conversation. Lip drummed his desk lightly while staring at the back of Max's head. He knew that something was going on with her, Max was being extremely secretive, as was her norm. But this time, something was off this time. Lip had pulled plenty of pranks with Max in the past and could tell when she was keeping something to herself and this morning, she could barely look him in the eye; there was a problem.

During the next class, the trio shared a table in the back of the room with Max in the middle. Unfortunately for her the class was biology, her favorite, but both Lip and Dean kept trying to get Max's attention. Dean was trying to steal her notes from the last class and copy the homework while Lip was attempting to subtly extract any useful information from Max.

“Dean, what are you trying-Lip why are you asking about my parents?” Max hissed as she smacked Dean's hand away from her notebook. They were driving her crazy in the one class she actually enjoyed.

“I'm just wondering if everything is going okay at home.”

“What?!” Max whipped her head from Dean to Lip at this question. _What does he know?_

“Why would you ask me something like that in the middle of class?” voice low and cool, Max fixed Lip with a guarded but terse look.

Lip swallowed heavily. “Just making conversation is all.”

“We are in the middle of class. There is a time and place for arbitrary conversation and this is not it. Especially stupid arbitrary conversation that has no meaning since you were at my house three times this week and therefore _saw_ my parents” Max arched her brow at Lip giving him a pissed face, all the while reaching into her folder and handing Dean her notes behind her. Max was if anything, collected and in charge at all times. Even if she was screaming in panic in her head at the same time.

“S-sorry, I'm just bored is all,” Lip muttered and turned away, ducking his head to his notes. _Wow, smooth move Phillip. Act like a complete noob and blow it before I even get any ground. What has Max been teaching you all these years? How to be a moron?_ Lip shook his head as he silently scolded himself. Asking such a stupid question, rookie mistake. To get any sort of information from Max he would have to be smarter, much smarter.

The three friends sat in silence the rest of class, each lost in their own thoughts. The bell finally rang and the three made their way to lunch. Max sat at a table in the far corner while Lip and Dean made their way through the lunch line. Max ate a sandwich as she read her book by herself.  


	2. Chapter 2

“Did you pick up anything from Max in class?”

Lip shook his head, “Other than how not to get information from Max? Nothing. But I know that she's up to something, well other than the obvious.”

“Maybe you're wrong Lip, maybe Max is just really hyped up,” Dean suggested as they left the food line.

“Ya maybe you're right. I could just be seeing things,” Lip laughed as he tried to shake off the bad feeling he had.

“So, I was thinking...”Lip couldn't help but notice how Max jumped at the sound of Dean's voice coming up behind her. She was on edge; no one got the drop on Max and if they did, she sure as hell didn't show it.

“Well maybe if Lip says it's okay we can get started?”

Max's voice startled Lip out of his thoughts and he turned to her expectant face.

“Hey, sorry just really hungry. Uh, you were saying?” _Get a hold of yourself Lip!_

Max looked at him for a beat before starting again.

“Okay, so one word: event. We need to do more than just plant our name on the school, we have to plant our name in the _minds_ of the school. By now the name Red-five has faded into the background and chances are some people have forgotten what they did. This year it is time to reintroduce the name, remind people of who we are and get them wondering as to what we are _really_ capable of and how far we are willing to go,” Max was speaking in low tones, her words for Dean and Lip only.

Lip was nodding along, “By the time senior year comes around, people won't be talking about Red-five as much but that's when we'll come back.”

“With everything we've got, letting no room for mistake as to who we are and what we do!” Dean whispered excitedly. This was a brilliant plan and he said told Max as much. Only she could have thought of something so elaborately delightful.

“Thanks, we only have one problem: we still need ideas as to what _exactly_ it is we're going to do. I've been working on getting the blueprints of the school for-” Max stopped abruptly as she saw people approaching the table.

“Heeey Dean!” three girls stood next to the trio, smiling down at the pale boy, who was staring intently at his lunch.

“Uh, hi Shayna, Tiffany, Emmie. What's up?” Dean shot a desperate look to Lip and Max. Girls were even more of a mystery to Dean and he never knew how to handle himself.

“I absolutely love your shirt today, it really brings out your eyes,” Tiffany batted hers at Dean while Emmie and Shayna giggled behind her. Lip looked to Max, expecting a sarcastic remark but only saw her tapping her fingers impatiently whilst staring into space.

“Anyhoo, how would you like to go to the movies with us Friday night? I'm driving and none of us have a curfew,” Shayna bit her lip and smiled at Dean, waiting.

“What-no! I mean-um-I can't, I'm going away this weekend!”

“Oh, phooey! Well let us know when you get back. See you around Dean!” The girls walked away with a pout, never even giving Lip or Max a glance.

Dean dropped his head on the table with a loud thud. “Why me, why me? Why couldn't a nice, noncreepy girl ask me to the movies?”

Max chuckled and rolled her eyes, “Because you're James' little brother, the _hottest_ boy in the whole school. If they can't have him, you are the next best thing.” Dean glared at Max and turned to Lip.

“And where were you? You were no help whatsoever!”

“I'm pretty sure they didn't even notice I was here dude, besides you handled that like a pro,” Lip was attempting not to laugh although he was not successful.

“If you two girls are done, I have some things to go over quick,” Max paused as Lip got himself under control. “Okay, brainstorming ideas. I want ideas from both of you for Red-five. _Good ideas.”_ Max shot both of them a look. The bell rang for the end of lunch but no one moved, Lip and Dean knew better. “Dean, I want schematics on all the locks and security systems in this school, no surprises we need to be able to handle any that we might encounter. Lip, do a walk-about with the faculty, find out anyone that could stand in our way. Try to have this done by the end of the week.” With that Max was up and moving, the boys stumbling to catch up to her.

“Oh, and I'm jipping next class so I'll see you after school.” Max picked up her pace.

“Oooh, want to see if we can get into the gardening club house? I have this worm-” Lip stopped when Max turned around.

“No, go to class. I said I'll see you later.” Max's tone left no room for argument. She spun on her heal and walked away.

Lip and Dean stood there, watching her back. Max's tone may have been definitive but again, her eyes were looking everywhere but at her two friends. Lip could feel the bad feeling coming back.

“Cover for me, I've got some things to see to.” Dean nodded.

“Good luck.”

Lip laughed to himself, he knew he would need it. He quietly made his way down the hall to the corner that Max had taken. He peered around the corner and saw her stopping at her locker, putting all books away and walking away with nothing in her hands. Lip walked lightly, keeping his distance carefully. He watched as Max approached a locked up courtyard and saw her turn into the doorway.

 _No way! Max and Dean have been trying to get into there for years, how did she do that?_ Lip started walking towards the door and tried the handle. Locked.

“What the hell?”

“My question exactly.”

Lip froze. _Breath dammit._ He turned slowly around, coming face to face with one incredibly pissed off Max.

“Follow. Me.” Lip nodded and walked behind Max as she made her way around the corner and into an empty classroom.

 _Oh shit!! Max is going to kill me! I didn't listen to her, I skipped class and got caught. Breath. Who am I kidding, this is Max, of course I was going to get caught! Breath. What's the worse that can happen, she gives me the verbal beating of the century, puts my underwear on display on t.v., or a freeze out. Oh god, that's would be the worse._ Lip's thoughts were racing.

 _Oh shit!! I don't want to lie to Lip but I can't explain what's going on. If he finds out, he'll call the whole thing off and we haven't even started yet. God, how did this become such a mess. I should have known better than to try to lie to him..._ Max was careful not to let her face betray her thoughts as she paced in front of Lip who was staring at the ground.

“Why?” Lip's head snapped up at the soft sound of Max's voice. When she was angry, she never spoke this soon; Max stewed. But looking up was a mistake because as when Lip met Max's eyes, the ice blue stare was full of anger, and surprisingly, hurt. Lip couldn't stand to see that look.

“Look at me. Why did you follow me?” Max's tone was soft and strong, commanding Lip who slowly looked up.

Lip thought of the techniques Max had taught him to talk his way out of trouble; answer a question with another and blurted out the first thing he thought of, “Why were you going into the courtyard?”

Max shook her head, “What? You fell for that? Jesus Lip, have a taught you anything?”

“Then where were you going?” Lip knew he was pushing it.

“None of your business.”

“Max, talk to me!” Max took a step away when Lip reached for her.

“I am Phillip. You followed me when I told you not to, you violated my trust,” Max's voice was calm and controlled but Lip could see her hands shaking. He ducked his head, knowing that Max was right; trust was everything to her and knowing just how angry she was when she used his full name. Max sighed, causing him to look up.

“Can we just forget this ever happened?” Lip could not read the expression on Max's face. She gave away nothing, yet somehow looked sad. He knew that she needed this.

“Of course Max, I'm sorry and you know it won't happen again,” Lip would do anything for Max not to look at him like that.

She swallowed and nodded at Lip as the bell rang. Max glanced at the clock in the classroom and turned and walked out, leaving Lip behind.

The door swung shut.

“Shit,” sighed Lip. What the hell had just happened.

Dean saw Lip approaching his locker and ran over.

“Hey, so what did you find out?”

Lip checked over his shoulder, “No clue man. I would have sworn I saw her go into the courtyard but then Max came up behind me, god was she pissed and I don't even know what happened after that, I mean she told me to _forget about it,_ since when does Max let anything go-”

“Hey, slow down Lip! Max actually said to pretend it ever happened? She didn't mention any epic wedgie or something?” This was a new one to Dean.

“Yeah...listen, will you talk to her on the bus? Just to gauge her mood, see how angry she is, maybe if she's cooking up something for me?”

Dean sighed, he could tell Lip was shook up and desperate.

“Yeah, of course. I'll talk to you later okay?” Dean patted Lip on the shoulder and walked off.

_Ha, get information out of Max, isn't that how this started?_

A few minutes later Dean slid into the seat next to Max on the bus.

“Soooo, I hear you had an interesting afternoon.” Max gave him an incredulous look and sighed.

“I told him to forget it and that goes for you too.” Dean shut his mouth as Max opened her book. He knew that signal; end of discussion.

 _That could have gone better and also a lot worse._ He couldn't wait to call Lip at home to get this done with.


	3. Chapter 3

“Okay, yeah, I got it. Thanks Dean, I owe you one,” Lip hung up the phone and flopped back on his bed. Max told Dean the same thing: Forget anything happened. Forget Max was acting weird. Forget Max was hiding something. Easier said than done. Lip sighed and turned on his bed, looking over at the small safe tucked under his desk.

Lip got up and locked his door before walking over to the safe, swiftly unlocking it and pulling out the papers inside. He spread them on his bed, carefully, remembering the night they broke into the middle school. Remembering the rush of being the only three people there at night. In front of him was maps of the school, each with different scribbling and information about the lock systems. All of the planning that they had done over the course of three months. Lip thought back to that night. The students had voted for what mural they wanted painted in the school lobby but the school had decided to choose a different way anyway. So Lip, Max, and Dean had secretly obtained a copy of the wining mural and had it blown up and they transferred it to a type of wallpaper. Then, at night, they sneaked into the school and pasted it over the one that was being painted. The only sign that they left was their signature, Red-five spray painted in the corner with a stencil.

Lip pulled out an envelope from the back of safe. Inside were photos from that night. Max had freaked out when she saw the camera but Lip lied and said he deleted them. But he just couldn't. His favorite picture was the one of Max, staring intently at their final product. He loved the small smile on her face, the kind that could light up the room. Max loved to cause trouble for people and always got a kick out of their reactions. But Lip knew it was more than that basic need. He knew that Max wanted to make a difference in others lives, wanted to be a voice for others. That is why she gave her notes to Dean, that's why she decided to put up the mural, and that's why they were friends. Underneath, Lip knew that Max was a softee at heart.

“Lip, you in there? Open up!” The sound of Lip's sister Meg knocking on his door made him jump up.

“Just a second!” Lip quickly gathered up the papers spread out and shoved them back into the safe. He crossed his room and unlocked the door, greeting his older sister.

“Hey Megs, what can I do for you?” Lip stepped aside as she entered his room.

“I have those floor plans that Max needed. It took me a bit longer than I thought it would; there are new firewalls in place. No wonder she had trouble getting them.”

Lip silently stared at the rolls of paper his sister handed him, deep in thought.

“Lip? Hello Phillip?” Meg snapped her fingers in his face.

“When did Max ask you for help?” Lip's tone had Meg worried.

“About a week or so ago. Is everything okay?” Meg knew that Lip and Max tended to stir up trouble but she had never known a time that Lip was worried about Max.

“Who the hell knows at this point. But yeah, it's all good, according to Max at least,” Lip ran his hands through his messy hair.

“I'd trust Max, she hasn't let you down so far,” Meg shrugged as she left his room. Lip sat down on his bed, turning the plans in his hands. Meg was right and he knew it. He also knew that if Max waited for these plans until tomorrow she'd shove him in a locker.

In her crisp, white room Max sat at her desk with _The Black Keys_ playing softly in the background. Tucked underneath her desk, an identical small safe. She sighed as she studied paperwork in front of her, not believing that this was really happening, wishing that it wasn't. She knew that she couldn't keep this to herself for long; Lip knew that she wasn't telling him something and she told him everything, well not everything. There was something that she had been keeping from him for years.

Max groaned out loud; sooner or later she would have to tell Lip _something._ Maybe she should just admit to something else to get him off her back. Suddenly her door burst open as her younger twin sisters came in. The 15-year-old twins, Kathryn and Corina were identical but looked nothing like Max. The twins were pale blondes with long faces while Max had light brown hair with a round face. Unfortunately for Max, looks were not the only places they differed.

“Maaaax!! Please tell us _why_ Dean isn't going to the movies Friday?” Corina propped her hand on her hip and glared down at her older sister who simply leaned back in her chair and crossed her legs to wait.

“Because if Dean doesn't go, then there's no way to convince Lip to come out either!” Still, Max waited.

“And we know that Dean isn't really going out of town so that means he and Lip are hanging out and that means that there's no chance to get one of them alone!” Kathryn finished with a pout.

“You know, I really have no clue what you two are babbling about but I would suggest mediation, maybe yoga. You know, talking slower, calm the nerves and other normal stuff like that,” Max shrugged her shoulders.

“Ugh! You are not funny Max! I don't know why you haven't jumped on the Lip train but you've known him for too long and now it's our turn! It's not our fault you dress so unfashionably,” Kathryn stomped her foot. Max silently looked down at her clothes, not sure what was really wrong with her jeans and tank top.

“So why don't you do something nice for us for a change and tell Dean and Lip to go out! Maybe we'll tell you what _not_ to do with your hair!” Corina was whining by this point. Again, Max glanced at her hair simply laying across her shoulders, knowing that there was actually nothing wrong with it and rolled her eyes. _Enough._ Max stood swiftly and pushed back her chair.

“Listen, I don't really know what's gotten into the two of you but Lip and Dean do what they want. I can't tell them what to do; it's called free will. Kathryn, Corina, maybe you should just try actually talking to them or something else crazy. Now, if you excuse me, the doorbell is ringing and obviously neither of you are planning on getting it,” Max walked the twins out of her room as she talked, shutting her door behind her and walking downstairs without waiting to hear a response.

“Oh dear lord, why me?” Max muttered as she opened the door.

_Speak of the devil and he shall appear._

“Hey Max, mind if I come in?” Lip gave her a smile.

 _Damn him._ “Of course, come on-is that what I think it is?” Max spotted the small round tube Lip was holdingand ushered him inside and up the stairs. Neither of them spoke until Max's bedroom door was closed.

“Well, let me see!” Lip laughed as he handed the tube to Max. He then turned towards the corner of Max's room to sit on one of the purple bean bag chairs she had. Other than her desk and bookshelf, they were the only items with color in Max's room. Lip was always impressed by the room in it's immaculate state and how Max's personality seemed to clash with the room and yet she was always at command and ease in it.

He watched as Max sat to unroll the maps on her desk, skillfully tucking the papers already there in a folder at the same time. Lip saw the move and bit his tongue. _Let it go let it go let it go._

“Thanks for getting these here so fast. Meg did a terrific job....ooh look at this,” Max pointed to something on the map with excitement. Lip couldn't help but smile at Max's face; after everything that went down today, Max finally looked relaxed.

“You made a copy for yourself right?” Max glanced to Lip who nodded. “Good, let me make another for Dean while you're here. Did you look at these yet? They're amazing aren't they? I mean this school definitely had money put into it.” Max opened a drawer to reveal a copier and set to work.

Lip knew that Max had shown him the line this afternoon and they both wanted to forget what had happened. But having issues involving Red-five was different and not telling him or Dean about it wasn't right; they both knew that and Lip had questions.

“So Meg mentioned that the school had new firewalls put into place,” Lip looked lazily at the ceiling while stealing glances at Max, testing her reaction. _Score._ Max's hands fumbled.

“Huh, that explains why I kept getting stuck.” Max's voice was light, giving away nothing.

“Yeah, Meg said you had some trouble. A few weeks ago actually. You didn't mention that.” Max turned to see Lip lounging back on the bean bag chair, still staring at the ceiling. He nonchalantly looked to Max when she didn't say anything. He was testing Max again, but this time it was different and they both knew it. This involved Red-five, where there could be no liabilities and no secrets. If there was a problem, they discussed it. The two friends looked at each other evenly, Max, still giving nothing and Lip, casually staring back.

This wasn't first time Lip and Max had sat in silence. Many nights the two would simply sit in the bean bag chairs, not talking, just sitting. But never like this, not with the two of them testing each other, pushing each other to see how far they would go, seeing who would break first. Lip knew Max was capable of waiting for hours if needed but she knew that he could wait as well.

Finally, and surprisingly, Max blinked. “Well there wasn't really a plan yet, I didn't think there was a reason to worry.” _Lie._

Lip leaned forward, taking Max's hand, “Maxie Marina, you know that you can talk to me. About anything. Let me help.” Lip was pleading, almost wishing that Max would really open up to him. Really trust him the way he trusted her.

Max opened her mouth but nothing came out. She couldn't stand the look on Lip's face; she wasn't able to think straight. Lip was waiting, not looking away, causing Max to drop her gaze to their hands. She couldn't breath right and looking at Lip's hand intertwined with hers didn't help matters much. Maybe she should just tell him, tell him everything and be done with hiding from him. Lip would make it better, Max knew that but she wouldn't risk losing him. She couldn't tell him everything; she _wouldn't_ ruin it all. _Get a hold of yourself._

“Hey, stay with me Maxie Marina, stay with me. Look at me?” Lip coaxed Max from her thoughts. When she met his eyes again, Lip gave Max a soft smile. “Hi.”

“Hi,” Max's voice was barely above a whisper. But she returned the smile.

“Maxie Marina...”

“Phil....” Lip waited. “I'm sorry.” Those were last the words he expected to hear. “I-I've just been doing a lot of thinking....lately and I guess it's....getting to me.” Max offered a weak smile and Lip nodded, encouraging her to go on. “This means a lot to the three of us and I don't want to let you-and Dean-down. I know you can help and I can count on you.”

“Always.”

“Always.” Lip smiled at Max as her eyes went down again, staring at their hands still in her lap. “There are...things that I want to tell you but I can't, not just yet.” Max kept her eyes on her lap while she spoke.

“I understand, just know that I'm here, whenever you need me.” Lip squeezed her hands.

“I promise it won't affect Red-five's plans, I promise!” Max looked up into Lip's eyes, searching for understanding and acceptance of what she was telling him.

“Okay.”

“Yeah?”

“Yes.” The two sat in silence another moment until Lip cleared his throat. “I should go, take these prints to Dean so he has some time with them.”

“That's a good idea.” But neither of them moved, hands still joined. “Um, I'll get those for you, I think I have Dean's case anyways.” Max pulled her hands away as Lip stood up. “Go straight there, no deters with an item like this.”

Lip smiled, Max was sounding like herself again. “No bathroom breaks, got it.” Lip accepted the case and head towards the door.

“Thank you Phil,” she gave a smile.

“Get some sleep tonight Maxie Marina,” Lip paused at her door a second before walking out. He let himself out of the house swiftly, only stopping when he got to the sidewalk, letting out a breath he didn't know he was holding. Max was scared, he knew that for certain. He also knew for certain that he was still in love with Max, as he had been for years. But he had gotten something from her just now, Lip got some hope. Lip smiled to himself as he set off to Dean's.


	4. Chapter 4

“Troublemaker.” Max spun around, hearing her older brother behind her in the kitchen. Jason was home from college on break and so in the continuous uniform of pajamas looking like he just woke up.

“Was that Lip that just left? He looked like shit.” Max turned back around to the counter and her tea and shook her head. Jason's ability to read people was not something she needed right now.

“Yeah, he was heading to Dean's and stopped to pick up something on his way. Why would you say he looked like shit?”

Jason gave a dry laugh, “Well from your current state I'd say you two had a serious conversation, I'm assuming you told him...” He let the question hang.

Max turned slowly, groaning. “No, he doesn't know. But he knows that something is up and that it's getting to me. I can't tell him just yet, there's other...things that need to be dealt with first.”

“Like how the two of you have the hots for each other and should probably do something about all the sexual tension before he finds out what's going on?” If Jason was anything, it was honest.

“Oh my god Jason! For real, what the hell is the matter with you!?! There is no sexual tension, Lip is my best friend-”

“And he knows something is wrong because he _knows_ you because he l-”

“Because we're best friends, aren't you listening?”

“Because you've been in love with him for god knows how long-”

“You're stupid, go back to bed.”

“Tell me I'm wrong.”

“Tell me why I shouldn't light you on fire.” Jason just laughed, knowing she was fully capable of it.

“Fine, but you know you will have to tell him. And it better be sooner rather than later otherwise Lip will be pissed you kept it from him and you might not be able to fix it once it's all done,” Max groaned at Jason's warning. She knew he was right but didn't like it.

“I know, but like I said, there's another timetable that we have to follow through on first and everything is just in the shits...”

“This is on a timetable too, remember, one with an ending that he won't like. And you'll get out of the shits...if you get your head out of your smart-ass.” Jason shrugged and grabbed a bag of chips, heading back to his room while Max glared at his back. She's always hated drama and yet somehow she was right in the middle it, of course.

Later that night Dean was outside taking out the trash with his mind on the blueprints that Lip had brought over for him when his neighbor, Tony, a senior at school, pulled up to the curb and got out of his car.

“Hey Dean, how's it going?” Tony pulled his guitar out of the backseat.

“Not bad, other than school. Just get back from band practice?”

“No, actually, back from an audition at the Y.”

“Really? Did you guys get the gig?” Dean was impressed, Tony's band, Chemically Insane was pretty good. They mostly did covers but they were solid.

Tony shook his head, “Doesn't look good man. We really don't know where else to go. In a town like this, we don't have many options.” Tony sighed as he headed in his house. “I'll see you at school tomorrow.”

“Yeah, see you,” Dean said distractingly, he had an idea.

“Chemically Insane.” Those were the first words Dean said the next morning once he, Lip and Max were all in class.

“Yes, we know you are, but how has your morning been?” Max quipped.

“Taken your meds yet?” followed Lip.

Dean glared at the two of them, not amused. “Super funny. No, Tony's band, Chemically Insane. They can't get a gig anywhere in town.” He spoke in a low voice, not wanting others to hear him.

“Sucks to be them, I've heard they're good.” Max nodded at Lip in agreement.

“So how about Red-five gives them a gig.” Lip frowned in confusion while Max started to smile at Dean, starting to understand what he was getting at.

“At the school,” Dean whispered.

“ _During_ school,” Max leaned forward, the gears in her head practically visibly turning.

“Sponsored by Red-five....Dean, you're a genius!” Lip had caught on.

“Oh oh oooh....this will be good! We'll have to do a crap ton of scheduling and coordination around school events and meetings, figure out how for them to set up without getting stopped, contacting the band actually, getting all the students in one place, _something_ will have to be done about the teachers and staff, ooh, fitting all the students in one place...” Max was whispering quietly and quickly, with Dean making a list on his iPad of everything that had to be figured out.

Max stopped, biting her lip, staring at Lip. It was the first eye contact that they had had all day but Max wasn't thinking about that; she was all business now. Lip could feel the excitement radiating off of Max and was glad when she finally looked at him, knowing that they were past last night. He was kind of glad.

“Okay, first things first: everyone is in agreement to go ahead with this plan?” Red-five was fair to all of them.

When the three friends smiled at each other Max continued, “Brilliant. So, we know the drill, three separate lists, three separate plans of how we can do this. No collaboration, we need as many ideas as possible. Be thorough and precise, with a time table included, remember details are where we can get screwed. What do you say, one or two weeks?”

“One is all I need,” Dean looked to Lip who nodded his agreement. There was no way any of them could sit on this for more than one week before talking to each other about it.

With that Dean turned away, typing away on his iPad, already starting on his plan, not even bothering to look like he was paying attention in class.

Lip turned to Max, who had a small smile on her face, staring at nothing before she turned, feeling his gaze.

“Everything shiny?” Last night was burned in Max's mind but she knew she had to concentrate on Red-five now and wasn't going create a problem and so she pushed it back and

grinned at Lip in response, feeling better than she had felt in a long time and glad to have this plan underway.

“Shiny” she whispered.  

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry this one is short but now we're getting to it!


	5. Chapter 5

The next week passed as normal they could have hoped. The three went to school quietly, attending school everyday and present in all classes. Well, that's what Lip and Dean thought at least. Max kept quiet about her activities, not wanting to fight with Lip again. The friends went about their time as casual as possible, the only notable difference being Lip not going over to Max's house after school. He went to Dean's instead, not knowing if he would be able to refrain himself from pressing Max for more information. If Dean noticed the difference, he didn't say anything, not wanting to get in the middle of the two. Max noticed, but again, didn't say anything, hoping she hadn't messed up their friendship already.

Friday after school, Dean and Lip followed Max home without a word to each other, all buzzing with excitement. They walked into her house, heading towards the kitchen, pausing merely seconds for the boys to grab apples from the counter and continuing out the back door. They crossed the backyard to a tool shed, only ever touched by Max, her father having abandoned it years ago. Max unlocked the door, stepping aside to let Dean and Lip enter and followed them quickly, shutting the door behind her.

The shed was small but enough for their needs. There was a shelf running across one wall, a chalkboard covering up the only window, and three stools lined up at a workbench on the third wall. Dean set the floor plans of the school on the shelf, grabbed the box of chalk there, and tossed it to Lip, who grinned.

“I guess I'll start.” Max and Dean sat down, pulling out a notepad and iPad, respectively, ready for the presentation. This was the most efficient method they could think of to concoct a plan. Each presents their own version of how to pull of the same scheme, while the other two creates series of lists of what they like, don't like, what is actually possible, somewhat workable, or completely stupid ideas. After everyone has taken their turn, they compare the lists to see what areas they overlap and agree on. While it may be a drawn out process, each will admit how much they enjoy it at the same time.

And so they began, with Lip theatrically detailing his plan, sketching out certain hallways and maneuvers on the chalkboard. No one interrupted him; Dean and Max enjoying the show and taking notes. When Lip was done he tossed the chalk to Max, who stood swiftly and traded places with Lip. Max always presented quickly and methodically, almost like she rehearsed her speech. Once she was done, Dean stood and began the final presentation. Max sat next to Lip, careful to keep their distance. Lip glanced at her, knowing that it was his distance that week that caused that move. He reached out with his foot, kicking hers softly, never taking his eyes off of Dean, feeling rather than seeing the small smile crossing Max's face. As hard as she tried, Max never could actually stay mad at Lip. The two relaxed a bit more as they listened to Dean.

20 minutes later the three were all standing around the chalkboard, each with chalk in their hands, arguing loudly.

“You can't possibly think that the administration would fall for a _symposium_!?”

“Yeah and you can fit a whole band set in a locker?”

“Not just one-”

“How would we secure those?”

Max raised her voice, “Okay, okay. Lockers are out. Too loud moving things in and out of them.”

“Thank you!” Lip threw his arms up, turning to cross it off the board full of scribbles.

“Fine, but you know that a symposium is obnoxious just to suggest it,” Dean was full of sarcasm.

“He's right,” Max shrugged and crossed it off as well. Only two votes was needed to make a decision. “I really think that timing it after the theater production is our best bet for a stage.”

“Max, we already decided on the gymnasium though and how does that make any sense?” Dean flung out his arm, pointing to the board with the apple he was eating and cocking his head to the side.

“After the play is over, there will be one day that the stage is left out of storage. All we need to do is find a reason for the janitors to get it in the gym instead of putting it right away.” Max looked to Lip for his opinion.

He nodded and started writing on the board, **Janitors to gym,** next to where gymnasium was circled. “That's a sensitive bit if they don't go for the bait.”

“Then we make sure that it's convincing bait. That's a key factor.”

“Whatever else has to be played out that day, you or Lip need to take that then.” Dean tossed his apple core away.

Max looked to Lip, who stared silently back. “We'll figure that out when we find sufficient bait.”

“Sounds good.” Lip nodded, specific assignments were never handed out this early unless obvious. “Back to the equipment issue,” Lip shot a look at Dean who scowled. “Max's idea was the best: there's plenty of room, it's not out it the open with easy access. So that's done.” Lip wrote on the board again.

“The fake email account will work fine for contacting the band. We'll encrypt everything so if anyone tries to trace it back to a home computer, they get diddly. That can be taken care of no problem.” Max looked to Dean.

“Yeah, that will be simple enough but completely safe as well.”

“Okay, mark that as priority. I don't see why the band would say no, but we need to contact them with enough time, but not too much that they won't be able to keep their mouths shut about the show. They could turn out to be a liability,” worried Max. Having other people involved like this made her squeamish; she was putting her faith in others not to screw everything up for them. This was not something that she liked.

“Tony knows Red-five, I've heard him mention it. We throw the name out there from the get go and he'll have our back, guarantee.” Lip spoke confidently, knowing where the worry was coming from. Max never trusted anyone. He could never figure out what made her that way but he knew that there were way more issues to worry about and she couldn't get caught up on this one. At least not this early in the game.

“Right, right. Okay, moving on, do you really think we can pull a Slumber Party? That's a _very_ risky game...”Max trailed off.

“But can be very successful with the right players.” Lip added.

“And we do have the right players. If we pull just that part off, I think I'll die happy,” Max chuckled as she stared at the chalkboard. The amount of deception that was needed for this was insane; she loved it.

“You're right; normally this is run with two or three players. The scale that we're going to do this will be historic,” sighed Dean. It would be awesome and Red-five's name would be all over it.

“Okay, let's see those floor plans again...”

15 minutes later, Dean and Lip were laying across the floor with Max walking around them studying the chalkboard. They had erased all rejected ideas and were left with a spiderweb of a plan drawn haphazardly, with arrows and lines going everywhere. Max paused and looked at the boys behind her, tossing the box of chalk, trying to make it land on a nearby stool. They were done for the day and so was she. She also had a phone call to make that night and Dean and Lip could be no where near when that was made.

Max turned back to the board. _The timing of this will just make it, maybe. If I can talk them into pushing the finalization date back then Lip and Dean won't need to be told until afterwords. And if everything goes as planned, maybe they'll be so high from this Lip won't be mad. And Dean. Jesus why do I always go back to Lip? Damn Jason..._ Max sighed.

Lip popped his head up at the sound, Max still had her back him but he could see her foot tapping. She was lost in her own world. He sometimes wondered what it was like there, if it was pristine white like her bedroom or a chaos that only she could control. Sometimes Lip got a glimpse of it, though never enough to truly know what drove Max. He always wondered if one day he would be allowed there for good. Lip couldn't deny it, he had missed her this week and it had thrown him off his game. He hoped Max hadn't noticed; then again, he kind of did. Lip glanced over at Dean, who was still staring at the ceiling. Dean hadn't said anything to Lip during that week but they both knew that something was off. When Lip had shown up at Dean's house early that week, he knew that something had gone down between Lip and Max but hadn't said a word. Dean knew that it must be personal and wanted to stay out of it. If Lip needed him, he would tell Dean.

“I think we're done here.” Max turned around at the sound of Lip's soft tone.

“Good call. I think there's a car available; either of you need a ride home?” The boys climbed to their feet.

Dean stretched as he spoke, “Nah, I'm good thanks. I'll see you guys next week.” He grabbed his backpack and headed out the door waving.

“See ya man,” Lip called to Dean's back and then turned to Max who gave a small smile.

“Want a ride?”

Lip leaned past Max, placing his chalk on the shelf behind her, stepping closer to her as he did so. Lip watched Max blink and her face go smooth. He hated when Max pulled that with him; when she hid from him. Lip reached his hand out, brushing Max's hair behind her ear slowly. Max closed her eyes and sighed, turning her head into Lip's hand.

_Lip could fix it...Lip would fix it...._

Max sighed again, “I missed you,” she whispered, keeping her eyes closed. She hadn't meant to admit it but with his hand gently caressing her cheek, with Lip that close to her, Max could only think of the boy in front of her and how much she needed him.

“I missed you too.” Lip swallowed when bright blue eyes met his but continued, asking the question he had had all week: “How have you been?” He watched as Max closed her eyes again and took a deep breath. She was either preparing a careful lie or was going to tell him to leave. So he was completely startled when she reached up to cup the hand still on her cheek.

“A total mess,” Max admitted, looking up at Lip again. “But I promise that I'm handling it; you don't have to worry about a thing.” She could have convinced a meteorologist the sky was green.

“Liar.” The swift response startled Max, looking quizzically at Lip who stared solemnly back. “But I trust you. And you know that I'm here.” Lip forced himself to take a step back.

“I know Phil.” Max was at a loss for words, that in itself confusing her even more. She watched as Lip covered the chalkboard with a table cloth and picked up both their bags. Turning back to Max, Lip took her hand and led her out of the shed, stopping so she could lock the door.

Lip handed Max's backpack to her, “Please don't keep lying to me. I'll talk to you tomorrow.” With that, Lip turned and walked away, leaving Max still speechless. Lip was almost to the sidewalk when he heard her.

“Good night Lip.”

“Good night Maxie.” He paused a moment, but didn't turn around; he had accomplished what he wanted and just headed home.

Max sat down in the middle of her back yard, bag at her side. She thought for a moment and then, not liking any of it, groaned and flopped onto her back.

“What the hell is wrong with me?” Max had her eyes closed and was rubbing her forehead when she heard the door to her house open and close. She laid still, hoping whoever it was would simply ignore her. A body dropped to the ground next to her. No such luck.

“Go away.” Max kept her hands covering her face.

“Not that I don't appreciate the concept of falling asleep anywhere, you're not normally one to demonstrate ideal locations. What crawled up your crabhole? Or should I say who?” Max lifted her hands to glare at Jason.

“You know if you said that to Corina or Kathryn they would run crying to Mom about how inappropriate you are.”

“Good thing I said it to you then.” Jason reached over and poked Max in the side, who squirmed away from him. “Did you call yet?” His tone was serious now, causing Max to groan again.

“Maybe.”

“Meaning no.”

“Meaning I was totally going to and then decided to take a nap instead.”

Jason handed Max the house phone. “You never take naps.” Max stared at the phone in her hands.

“Why do you care so much about this? No offense, but you aren't here most of the time so it's not like this will affect you anyway.”

“Because on one side you have Mom and Dad spouting the 'what's best for you in the long run' crap. And the on other side you haven't told Lip about this. Which means you're not _actually_ discussing this major life decision with anyone.” Jason was staring at the clouds, hands tucked under his head. “And right now none of that even matters because you have to make a phone call.”

They laid in silence until Jason heard the beep of the phone. He glanced over to see Max dialing and waited.

“Hello, this is Maxima Marina Bishop....yes. I was supposed to call to confirm my meeting....and tour....correct. Yes, that sounds good. Thank you, have a nice night.” Max tossed the phone to Jason as if it bit her and rolled over unto her stomach.

“I feel sick.”

“You only confirmed a meeting, relax. Where does that fit with your other...timetable though?” Jason turned over to look at his sister, who did the same to mirror him.

“I can work with the meeting. When I'm there, I just have to negotiate the dates on the paper work,” said Max. Jason raised his eyebrow.

“Do you think you can convince them to do that?”

Max chuckled, “Please.” Jason grinned; he shown have known better.

“Try to remember that this isn't set is stone yet. You can still say no.” Max stared. “You can still say no.” Jason repeated as he stood up. “And tell Lip.” Once again Max was left

alone in the middle of her yard with her thoughts, staring at the sky.

Max lay there thinking about everything: the plans, the secrets, the lies, Lip.

“I am so screwed.”


	6. Chapter 6

It was Saturday afternoon and Lip was walking along the street, whistling, heading to Max's house. Things were bad: Red-five was still in the planning stages which meant nothing was secure, Dean was trying to figure out how to deal with girls and the girl _he_ loved was flat out lying to him. But they had a plan underway and he had a fighting chance with Max and she knew it as well. He could work with that. He walked up the sidewalk to her house and rung the doorbell. Lip was reaching forward to ring it again when the door swung open to reveal Corina.

“Lip! I was wondering when I was going to see you again.” Corina smiled and leaned against the door.

“Afternoon Corina. Is Max home?” Thrusting his hands in his pockets, Lip grinned at Corina who blushed.

“Max is no where near decent. But you and I could chat a while,” Corina sweetly said.

“Is it okay if I just head up to Max's room?”

“Oh poo, Lip. Why would you want to do that when I-”

“Get lost Corina. Lip, why don't you come in?” Jason stood behind Corina in his pj's, holding the door open the rest of the way. Lip watched as Corina slunk away, glaring at Jason over her shoulder. He then followed Jason inside to the kitchen.

“Max will be down in a minute. You want anything, crackers, chips, water...?” Jason was rummaging through the fridge.

“Nah, I'm good thanks.” Lip sat down on one of the kitchen bar stools at the island. Jason turned from the fridge with a bowl of cookie dough and bottle of water. “It's important to stay hydrated.”

Jason sat down across from Lip. “I care very much about what goes into my body.”

“Someone going to make cookies?”

“Most likely,” Jason grinned. Lip had been a presence in that house for as long as he remembered. The two had become friends somewhere along the way, both with sisters as their only siblings. “It's been a while, how are things going for you, Lip?” Jason was using a spoon to eat the cookie dough.

“Same, nothing really new. I mean, Max would have told you if anything had happened, right?” Jason paused with the spoon in his mouth. He knew a loaded question when he heard it.

“But I asked you.” Jason quirked his eyebrow and stuck the spoon back in his mouth. Lip shifted on his stool. Getting information from Jason was almost as bad as getting it from Max. “Saw you leaving here the other week looking like crap. Then you didn't stop by for a while. So I'll ask you again, how are things going?”

Lip opened the water bottle. “Max isn't being honest with me. She knows that I know and I told her to stop lying to me. But I know she'll probably keep lying anyways.”

“Why does it matter if she doesn't tell you everything?” The directness was eerily familiar.

“Well...she-I mean I...” Lip dropped his head, rubbing his neck. “It just does, okay? Max has never seriously lied to me in the past and now it's her new favorite game to play with me.”

“Max isn't playing games with you.” Lip's head shot up. “Max is fighting through some shit and she's confused as I've ever seen her.”

“But she still-”

“Lies to you, I know. The two of you have been doing this dance for years now-”

“Jason-”

“Shut up and listen. You have the hots for each other, period. With the other crap going on and you being you,-and she'll deny it-Max can't keep lying about how she feels about you...and eventually the rest of it. You two are good together, don't let her tell you otherwise. Don't let up on her Lip, don't give up on her.” Jason spoke quickly and quietly, he knew Lip needed to hear this and had to get it out before Max came downstairs and shot him in the foot. Jason didn't normally get in the middle of any of his sister's drama but he knew that sometimes Max was too smart for her own good and he just couldn't help himself when he saw her hiding in her ass.

Lip ran a hand through his hair and just stared as his mind raced. Jason sat across him, still eating cookie dough. “Jason...I feel like every day this gets more complicated.”

“That's life and a pretty good preview of college.”

“So you're perfectly fine with me going after your sister? Just to clarify, you _told_ me to.”

“Yeah but don't tell her I said that. And you guys have your...extracurricular activities to deal with as well so be careful.” Jason sat up all of a sudden.

“Ugh, I'm so glad I finally got to shower after the twins used all of the hot water and hogged the bathroom for three hours! That's the last time I let them go before me or I-Lip. Hi.” Max came into the kitchen with a cup of coffee and a towel in her hands attempting to dry her hair. She stopped short at the sight of Lip; she hadn't quite figured out how to deal with him yet.

“Good afternoon Max. Need a shovel for that grave?” Lip couldn't help but grin at the sight of Max disheveled; it was rare and always a treat. And besides, she was only in shorts and a tank top with her wet hair dripping, he had seen worse.

“Two actually. When did you get here?” Max recovered quickly and continued into the kitchen to pour herself another cup of coffee.

“A few minutes ago, Corina answered the door.” Jason said around his spoon.

“Explains why she was giving me dirty looks just now,” Max rolled her eyes and then narrowed them at Jason's back. Setting down her coffee she threw her towel over his head and grabbed the bowl of cookie dough from him.

“Hey! I wasn't done with that!” Jason threw the towel off in Lip's direction.

“Lip, you want to come up?” Max dug into the cookie dough, smiling at Lip.

“Sure, good talking to you Jason,” Lip laughed as he stood up to follow Max.

“Mmhmm,” Jason waved them off, knowing it would be a while before either of them decided to listen to him.

Max walked into her room and dropped down onto a bean bag chair, setting her coffee on the floor beside her. She needed to get things back to as normal as possible, which meant acting like nothing happened.

Lip followed her, dropping the towel into her laundry basket and paused in the doorway, staring at Max. She was still completely disheveled but didn't look an iota out of place in the crisp room.

“Lip?” Max cocked her head to the side and frowned, taking a sip of her coffee.

“Sorry, just seeing if one of the twins was going to tackle me from behind.” The lie came out smooth and Max smiled as Lip walked across the room to join her.

“Well apparently you were supposed to go to the movies with one of them, or both of them? With Dean but not with Dean?” Max threw up her hands. “Some convoluted plan to get you two to go out with a bunch of hair straightener-obsessed girls.” Lip laughed as he swiped the cookie dough from Max's lap as she was busy with her coffee.

“Really, because no one said anything about the movies to me lately. Was someone going to make cookies? Lip asked his earlier question as an afterthought.

“Most likely. All I know is that yesterday after school the twins were in here stomping their feet and crying about something involving you and Dean. Oh and asking why I haven't 'jumped on the Lip train.'” Lip choked on the dough in his mouth as Max stole the bowl back.

“Is that what they're calling it now?”

Max grinned, “Yup. Lucky you.”

“You're adorable.”

“Don't you forget it.”

_Never._

Max and Lip relaxed into the chairs, passing the cookie dough in between them, just talking, complaining, and sharing. They had a lot to catch up on from the past week.

2 hours later the two friends were still lounging together, the empty bowl sitting on the floor between them. It wasn't as if the past week hadn't happened, they just knew that they couldn't keep the distance from each other; it drove them crazy.

“So Mr. George basically shot Pete in the ass even before this next exam.”

Max shook her head, “He's being taken care of this week. I spoke to Tara, Kyle, and Anthony.”

“Painted test?” Max nodded. “Good idea, he's a pain. Did you hear why Kathryn got into a fight during lunch?”

“Oh, don't get me started...” Max slunk down and groaned. Lip reached over and kicked her foot, laughing.

“Don't tell me, someone said something mean about her hair...or her shoes...no don't tell me, someone was wearing the same jeans as her.”

“Shut up!” Max covered her face, laughing.

“She totally should have known better. I mean, Kathryn is in tenth grade now, those freshmen have to know their place,” Lip finished in mocked seriousness. Max was now half on the floor and half on her bean bag chair, laughing. She turned her head to look at Lip.

“God, you don't know how close to the truth you are.”

“Oh, really? Why don't you tell me how it is that you're actually related to Kathryn and Corina?” Lip kept kicking at Max on the floor.

“Cut it out!” Max swiped at Lip's leg halfheartedly. “I'm operating under the belief that a complicated genetic mutation took place when the twins were developing. Anything else would just make me even more depressed. Would you cut that out!” She kicked Lip away again as she sat up on her chair.

Lip just kept laughing. “Quit screaming, Kathryn and Corina will have to see what's going on.”

“Wouldn't you just love that?”

“Woah woah woah...” Lip through up his hands. “Let's not get carried away!”

_Why not...._

“Thanks again for dinner, Max.” Lip and Max were standing in her doorway a few hours later.

“Anytime, you know that Lip,” Max smiled and leaned against the door. This afternoon was just what she needed. “You sure you don't want a ride home?”

Lip remembered what happened last time she asked that question and couldn't help but smile. “I'm sure, thanks though. I'll see you tomorrow.” Lip took a step down onto the sidewalk.

“Good night,” Max laughed softly at his comment. He never bothered to ask anymore.

“Sweet dreams.” Lip waved and walked away as Max closed the door. That boy was going to kill her and he was definitely going to enjoy it.


	7. Chapter 7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry this one is a little short!

 Monday morning found Dean and Lip walking down the hallway before homeroom, Lip ahead of Dean who was working on his iPad.

“This is a much more extensive to-do than we've had in the past,” Dean remarked.

“Remember this is just a warm up for senior year. We need to ace this,” spoke Lip over his shoulder. Dean doing some last minute work on the final itemization list for Max to look over. Once that was done, they would create a more detailed time line.

“I know that we agreed that this has to be done timed with the end of the play but haven't you realized that gives us barely a month of planning? Don't you think that Max is pushing this? Pushing us?” Dean hissed.

Lip stopped in the middle of the hall and spun around. “Do we have a problem?” His voice was cold. It didn't matter that this was his best friend, Dean was raising doubts about Red-five which could cause major problems. This had to be dealt with before Max heard him.

Dean finally looked up from his iPad. He knew that this wasn't personal and he reacted as such in even tones. “No problem, an observation that had to be acknowledged at some point. Being rushed could lead to mistakes.”

“Then don't make any.” Max brushed by the two boys in the middle of the hall heading to her locker. She hadn't heard the whole conversation but didn't really care. If Dean had a problem Lip would handle it; Dean wouldn't actually come to her with a major problem, he'd be too nervous.

Lip glanced at Max as she walked by but turned back to Dean and raised his eyebrows in a silent question.

“It's all good man. Like I said, just making an observation,” Dean shrugged and kept walking. He heard Lip turning behind him and falling in step beside him. “She has freaking vulcan hearing.”

Lip chuckled, “Even without all of her coffee. It's freaky.” It was as if nothing had happened. Dean had put the question out there and it had been recognized. They moved on. The two caught up to Max who was opening her locker.

“Do you have that list done, Dean?” Max handed off her coffee to Lip's outstretched hand and switched out her books.

“Just finished it and in your spam now.” Dean shut the cover on his iPad and slipped it into his bag. Max nodded and shut her locker.

“Thanks. Class or is there anything else?” Max paused mid turn to go to class and looked to Dean and Lip.

“Nope.”

“Class it is.” Max nodded and started off to class. Lip and Dean followed behind her, Lip taking a quick step forward, searching for Max's hand. Once found, he slipped her coffee mug back into her hand smoothly. Max lifted the coffee, smiling at Lip behind her mug, never breaking stride.

“Is there any item with out notes?” Max directed this to Dean.

“Nope, I was able to assign everything. I really don't think you'll have to rearrange anything unless it's logistical.” Dean was confident. He had put the time table together and assigned each of the tasks to someone to take care of. He was always good at identifying where someone would be most useful and Max loved it.

“Nice. We'll discuss during study hall. Lip, will you be ready to report your walkabout tomorrow?” The three friends walked close together, so no one had to raise their voice and risk being overheard.

“I can talk it out after school. We have some problem spots but I've also identified the way around them along with our key players.” Lip tossed a grin to Dean, who returned it. Lip's walkabouts were always so revealing.

“Shiny,” Max smiled softly at Lip while waving at someone walking by. They tried to remain as casual as possible while discussing business in public. Dean walked ahead of Max when they reached their first class for the day and slipped inside without a word. Lip and Max paused outside the doorway.

“Everything taken care of?” Max took a deep breath and bit her lip, bracing herself.

“Nothing to worry about,” the boy across from her spoke reassuringly in a soothing tone. Max narrowed her eyes at Lip.

“Sure.”

Lip gestured to the door, “After you.” Max shook her head and entered the class with Lip following behind her and then walking past Max to his seat next to Dean in the back. If Max was going to pretend she was fine, Lip was going to make sure that everything else was.

The morning passed quickly and Max finally found herself in study hall in front of a computer. Dean was two computers over, already settled and waiting for her. Max logged on using a dummy account name to find a message from Dean already waiting for her.

**Server updated, changed encryption key. Use this one instead.**

Max glared at the computer screen for a moment before using Dean's new encryption to open her email. The frequent updates to the school computers were starting to become a pain. She received a request from Dean, asking to share her IP address so they could link their computers. Once in her email, Max opened the file that Dean had sent her that morning and put it in the shared window for Dean to see and starting reading.

**Sequence 1 looks good. I do want to change D to Friday so they can't think about it over the weekend.**

**K, we'll have to move up the time then.**

**That works fine, Lip will just leave early. Sequence 2 works has good flow. Why the stall day?**

**Not stall, buffer. J.i.c. And it doesn't fit anywhere else.**

**Good thinking.**

**Is 4J what you had in mind?**

Dean and Max worked efficiently, going through the list details. Dean had hit everything pretty much spot on and they only finicked minor items, finishing with a few minutes left of study hall.

**I've put this back in your spam and Lip's as well to look at.**

**Great, thanks Dean.**

**I had a question for you Max.** Max hesitated only slightly over the keyboard. She knew that Dean was more confident over the computer but still wouldn't ask if he didn't feel the need.

**Go ahead.**

**Lip was at my place a lot last week.** _Dammit_.

**That's not a question.**

**Why was Lip at my place so much last week?**

**You two are best friends.**

**Max.**

**…..**

**Max?**

**It kind of followed the incident when he jipped class. And things got...**

**Awkward?**

**Incredibly.**

**Never knew you for getting awkward.**

**Shut up.**

**…..I know something's up Max.**

**Nothing to be concerned about.**

**I know you'll take care of it. One more question.**

**How do you ask out Amanda?**

**….?**

**I know you Dean.**

**Damn you.**

**Now who's awkward?** Max felt a ball of paper hit her head from the side and laughed as the bell rang. She cleared the cache history on the computer and logged out. She walked up to Dean who was doing the same.

“Is it time for the talk?” Dean glared and nudged Max as they made their way out the door.

“This is serious!”

Max stopped in the hall to give Dean a somber look, “Oh trust me, I realize that.”

“What is that supposed to mean?” Dean's eyes went wide. Max turned and kept walking down the hall.

“Because this is you we're talking about!”


	8. Chapter 8

 Max sat at the lunch table unpacking her lunch while Dean and Lip were in the lunch line. She started tapping on Dean's iPad, idly playing a game of solitaire while eating a peach. School had become such a bore for her; Max could hardly pay attention to classes anymore. Her talk with Dean that afternoon had been interesting and she hoped that Dean could get over his fear of girls to ask out Amanda. If this had been anyone else, she would have suggested a double-date. But Dean would want Lip to go and then she'd have to watch him go out with some skank...

Max shook her head as if to knock out these thoughts.

“Uuggh,” Max groaned under her breath at herself. Max didn't look up from the iPad as Lip and Dean sat down across from her with their trays.

“There's Amanda now, why don't you go talk to her?” Lip was pestering Dean. Lip had known for some time about Amanda but had been surprised when Max texted him, giving him a head's up about her conversation with Dean.

“In the middle of the cafeteria, Lip? She's surrounded by other people, not a good idea for him,” Max said, eyes still on the iPad. She reached over to Lip's tray, placing her peach pit on it and taking a napkin. “Dean has a plan. Besides, how would you know?”

“I don't know Max, how would you know?” Lip glared at Max, leaning across the table. Max smirked and laughed.

“Wouldn't you like to know?” Lip blanched and coughed in response. They had been teasing each other but now he wasn't sure. _Damn, she's a good liar, she's definitely lying._

“I feel weird just saying this, but can we focus on me for a minute?” Dean was slowly disassembling his chicken patty, nerves getting to him now this was out in the open. Max winked at Lip and turned her attention to Dean.

“You were fine with what we came up with earlier and you're fine now Dean. I promise,” spoke Max in a velvet tone. The tone was usually reserved for adults to talk her way out of trouble; it could convince anyone of anything she wanted. Dean was proof of this as he nodded and finally started eating his lunch. Max turned to Lip, smiling at her triumph, to see him still studying her trying to figure out her earlier comments. Max rolled her eyes and went back to her solitaire game.

“Lip, be sure to check your spam tonight for assignments,” Dean mumbled around his lunch. “Print by 9 o'clock or it'll be gone.” Lip nodded. Dean always threw commands on these types of emails that would destroy the file in a certain amount of time. Once or twice in the past he had forgotten to tell Max and Lip about the commands. That had not ended well.

“Oh Lip!” The sing-song voice carried across the noise of the cafeteria. Max dropped her head at the sound of her sister's voice.

“How the hell did Corina get past the lunch monitors,” Lip hissed at Max.

“Like I know?”

“No doubt she's related to you know,” laughed Dean. Max shot him a nasty look.

“Lip, there you are!” Corina plopped herself across from Lip, knocking Max to the side. “Why do you sit in the corner over here? The rest of your soccer team is up front! Anyway, a bunch of us are having a bonfire tomorrow night, the whole soccer team will be there and _you_ just have to be there too!” Dean and Lip just stared at the fast-talking blonde in front of them. They looked to Max for a response but she was back to the solitaire game on the iPad, trying to pretend she wasn't related to Corina.

Dean nudged Lip's shoulder, who shook his head and cleared his throat.

“Well that does certainly sound...romantic.” Corina blushed furiously while Max froze. “I mean, bonfire under the stars, everything is more magical.” Lip grinned at Corina, seeing Max finally look up from the corner of his eye.

“Exactly,” breathed Corina, leaning further across the table. Lip grinned even wider, eyes on Corina. But he could see Max breathing in a controlled manner. _Now who doesn't know what they're doing._

“So what time is-”

“Corina has been grounded for the next month because she's failing two classes and got caught skipping three times last week.” Lip's jaw snapped shut and forced his face to go blank when Max interrupted him, keeping his eyes on Corina. “So I really wonder how she's planning on going to a bonfire tomorrow, especially since our parents have her on house arrest.”

Lip kept a steady gaze on Corina as she flushed even further and sat up straight. “Max doesn't know what she's talking about.”

Lip raised his eyebrow, “I've made it a habit not to doubt Max.” He glanced to see Max staring at a spot above his head. _Curious._

“Young lady, you do not belong in this lunch period,” the stern voice came from behind Corina. Lip looked up to see Mr. Hobbes standing behind the young teen.

“That's fine. I was just leaving,” Corina spoke tightly, shooting Max a dirty look. She got up and gave Lip one last smile before being escorted from the cafeteria glumly.

Dean looked from Lip to Max. “What just happened?” Max finally looked Lip in the eye and paused for a moment. She then shrugged and bit off a piece of the pretzel she had swiped from Lip's tray at some point and turned back to the iPad.

“Crazy teens,” Lip offered to Dean and went back to his lunch. Dean did the same, keeping an eye on Amanda out of the corner of his eye the rest of lunch.

The rest of the school day and the next went relatively normal. The lunch incident had given Dean and Lip something to laugh about for a couple of days at least. When the last bell rang on Tuesday Lip followed Dean and Max onto their bus, sitting next to Dean. Max pulled sat across from them reading her Nook the bus ride home. When her stop came up, Max put the tablet away and Lip said bye to Dean and followed Max off of the bus.

“Whatcha been reading?” The two started off towards Max's house.

“Little Brother; I highly recommend that you and Dean read the Sparknotes on it,” Max responded airily. Lip grinned.

“By the way, what was with the power play over Corina at lunch yesterday?”

“What are you talking about?” Max's voice was even and Lip grinned wider.

“Well you seemed to get awfully tense when I was flirting with Corina. You know I was only joking right?” Lip replied just as evenly.

“Lip, you know how to flirt as well as a 16-year-old drunk can walk in a straight line.”

“Are you saying you're addicted to me?” Lip stepped around to face Max, forcing her to stop walking. She kept her face impassive, Lip registering her surprise as a blink only.

“I'm saying you're ridiculous,” Max stepped around Lip to continue walking. “And don't flatter yourself.” Max called over her shoulder. Lip walked quickly to catch up.

“I don't have to when you're around.” Max's step faltered slightly and Lip laughed. Max glared at Lip from the corner of her eye at the sound and Lip laughed more.

“Ugh, go away,” Max groaned. Lip kept laughing as he reached over and pulled Max's backpack from her shoulder to carry.

“Na, you'd miss me too much.” Max just shook her head and kept walking along with Lip. When they got to her house they detoured to the kitchen quickly and then continued upstairs to Max's bedroom. Lip dropped his backpack next to the door and placed Max's on her desk chair, dropping onto a beanbag chair.

Max went to her backpack and opened it, pausing a moment to look to Lip. “I assume you'd like to begin?”

Lip stared in response and Max sighed. She emptied out her books and slipped her bag under her desk. Max placed her Nook on her bookshelf and started skimming the other books.

“Is there a reason you're being coy or has school really just wiped any thought from your mind?” No sound came from behind her and she rolled her eyes to herself, pulling an envelope from between two books. She glanced at it quickly, not finding what she wanted, she put it back. Max repeated this several times before she sighed, “Lip, what-”Max's voice caught in her throat when she felt Lip silently step up behind her. “-are you doing?” She finished quietly, her hand still on a book. Max took a deep breath when Lip stepped closer to her, pressing her between himself and the bookcase, reaching over her to the books, pulling another envelope out.

“Didn't seem like you were finding what you were looking for. And we both know you don't like to ask for help.” Max could feel Lip talking against her ear, his breath hot on her neck. Max closed her eyes and let out a low breath.

“Holy shit.”

“Problem?” Lip still didn't move. _It's Lip, it's Lip, it's-what you've wanted for how long?_ Lip could see Max shake her head slightly. _Can't happen, he'll hate me. Enough._

“Enough.” Max repeated out loud this time, her mind made up. She took a small step forward and to the side, effectively freeing herself from between Lip and the bookcase. Max walked towards her desk and set down the envelope that she had lifted from Lip and turned to face him.

Lip smiled when he saw the envelope; he hadn't felt a thing. “Impressive-”

“Stop it. Right now, Lip. This is ending. Whatever the hell it is that you think you're doing is done.” The smile left Lip's face quickly as he heard the cool tone. Max's face was set. She had been angry with him in the past but this was different from not listening to her; this was way more personal.

“Maxie Mar-”

“Don't call me that. We've always been friends Lip and that's it. Friends. You've been all over the place these last few weeks. And now when we have a job we're trying to pull you think it's time for fun and games. It's not and you know better. You should know better at least.” Lip's face was stone in response to the ice blue eyes staring at him. Max kept going. “So I'm done. I'm done with the banter, the jokes, and the laughs. Just stop.”

“Why?” The question came so softly, Max wasn't sure Lip actually spoke and paused a moment before responding.

“Because I can't do it anymore. I can't do this anymore.”

The two friends stood across from each other giving nothing away. Both wishing that they could read one another and for once understand what they were thinking.

“Shall I get started?” Max nodded, glad he wasn't pushing her even more. She sat down at her desk and pulled her notepad onto her lap and looked at Lip expectantly. Lip hesitated, not sure if he should sit or continue standing. He opted for standing; if Max was going to make this formal, fine. He would make her regret this.

“I'll begin with nonfactors: Principal Dontlin will be away four days leading up and two days after the score, none of the p.e. teachers scored high enough for alert, made friends with five out of the seven janitors. Problem areas include the secretary of admin and most importantly the dean of students....” Lip gave a full report of all of the teachers and faculty of the high school that they might encounter. He continued talking start to finish, taking 10 minutes. Max never looked up from her notepad.

“With the key players of the Slumber Party identified, this is a sure thing. Any questions?” Max finally lifted her head to face the blonde boy in front of her, perfect posture, arms crossed behind his back, and staring stoically at her. She mentally scolded herself for always having to be...well _her. Way to be dumbass._

 _“_ No questions. You covered all details. I'll give Dean the problem areas for the two of you to discuss tomorrow.”

Lip blinked. “You won't be here.” It wasn't a question.

“I have somewhere to be.” Lip nodded in response.

“Do you need anything else from me?” Lip's tone was formal, polite. It sounded so wrong coming from him.

“No, that's all.” Lip nodded once more and grabbed his backpack, heading towards the door. Max watched him go and was surprised when he turned to face her.

“You say you're done but you're wrong. You say you're fine and have everything under control but you couldn't be more wrong. And you say you're not lying to me but we both know that you're wrong. Just like we both know that everything that you said to me 15 minutes ago was nothing more than another one of your lies. I told you to stop lying to me and I meant it. You're not as good at it as you thought.” The door slammed shut behind him, leaving Max staring at the door when she heard the front door shut as well. That was how Jason found her a few minutes later when he came in unannounced.

“Troublemaker,” he said accusingly. Max swung away from the door and started fiddling with things on her desk.

“Not now Jason.”

“You told him.” He watched as Max hung her head. “You didn't tell him. You just lied to him and this time it was enough to piss off your best friend.”

“This isn't your life were talking about Jason. It's mine. And I get to choose how to handle myself any way that I please.” Her voice was tired.

Jason shook his head, “Lip was probably the one person that could have really helped you with all this. Get your head out of your ass, Max.” The door was slammed for the second time that day. Max winced this time and dropped her head to her desk muttering to herself.

“Good job Max. You are truly the smartest person I know. I really don't want to go to school tomorrow.”  


	9. Chapter 9

 The next morning found Max at her locker exchanging books with her Wayfarers still on and sipping her coffee. She had gotten no sleep the previous night and was exhausted. Thankfully she was leaving school early but not soon enough. She still had two classes with Lip to get through first. Max paused her movements and sighed, leaning her forehead against the edge of her locker.

_Moron moron moron. Get your shit together Max. There's no time to pussyfoot around today._

“Hey, what's wrong with Max?” Dean looked down the hall to see Max leaning on her locker. He turned to Lip, catching his worried expression switch to general puzzlement and shrugged.

“The twins have been grating more than usual lately. Looks like she hasn't gotten much sleep.” Lip winced inwardly at lying to Dean. He didn't like it but knew it had to be done for now. Dean nodded and started walking over to Max, Lip following a few steps behind.

“Morning Max. Need a second cup?” Dean lightly teased Max, who pulled herself from the lockers and gave her friend a small smile.

“Already on it,” Max replied ruefully as she removed her sunglasses.

“Good morning Max.” Lip came up beside Dean and propped himself on the lockers.

Max looked to him tilted her head to the side.

 _Oh I'm such a moron._ “Morning Lip. Have a nice night boys?” Max forced her gaze to focus on a spot between Dean and Lip.

“Yeah, I guess,” Dean furrowed his brow at the odd politeness that was taking place but decided to ignore it. “Half of your books are gone. Leaving school early?”

“Yep, places to be.” Her sudden clipped tone said she didn't want to discuss it. Max finished with her books and shut her locker. “After school you and Lip have the walkabout issues to discuss. On to class?”

Dean glanced to Lip who simply nodded and frowned more. “I guess so.”

The three friends head down the hall to class in silence. Max was still guzzling her coffee while Lip walked stiffly beside Dean.

 _What sweet hell is this?_ The thought went through all their minds.

During class Dean looked over to Lip. “Max doesn't have to be there after school?”

“No, we identified the problems last night and know what we have to handle,” whispered

Lip.

“I'm not usually good at this sort of thing but I get the feeling you're not talking about Red-five.”

Lip chuckled, “You're not entirely off. But it's all being dealt with.” Lip drummed his fingers on his desk. “You wouldn't happen to know what Max is doing this afternoon, would you?” He looked over to see Dean giving him an incredulous look.

“You feeling okay, buddy?”

“Frak you.” The two friends laughed quietly in the back of class. During biology Max sat in her usual seat between Dean and Lip with a deep breath. Dean reached over and Max silently slid over her notes from the previous class and homework while Lip settled next to her. Lip sat straight up in his chair with his hands folded on his notebook in front of him. Max was acutely aware of how properly Lip sat looking straight ahead, not even acknowledging Max. It wasn't exactly what Max had said she wanted but then again, she had only said what she didn't want. So she knew she couldn't react, complain, comment. Even if it hurt.

When class was over Max slowly packed her books and stood.

“I'll see you tomorrow then.”

“Enjoy the rest of your day Max.” Dean offered when Lip didn't reply.

“Thanks, you too Dean,” Max smiled and walked to her last class for the day without another word. Lip and Dean made their way in the opposite direction. Lip knew on some level that he was being cruel. But he was determined to make Max regret her actions.

“You sure you're okay Lip?”

“Never better.”

An hour later Max was wandering the halls of the school, slowly making her way to the front office. She was stalling and she knew it, not caring that her parents were probably waiting for her at the front of the school. Max walked silently around a corner to find Kathryn and Corina huddled around their lockers.

“You have got to be kidding me.” Max watched as they swung around, eyes wide. “You know if you get caught skipping class Mom and Dad will tar and feather you both. And they are currently on the premises.”

“You wouldn't turn in your own family. Not even you would be as mean as that,” Kathryn sneered at Max.

“No, I'm not. But I'm also not jejune. Maybe you should try that every now and then.” Max sighed and walked away, definitely not in the mood to deal with her sisters.

“Don't be a snob Max!” Max just waved over her shoulder as she walked away. She knew they would get caught without her help and was not going to be a part of it. Max never got caught. She started making her way to the entrance of the school, knowing she couldn't put off this visit forever.

It was the end of the day and Lip was heading outside where Meg was waiting to pick him up. He was thinking how much he couldn't wait to get out of there when he saw Jason leaning up against his car next to the sidewalk.

“You know this is a no parking zone, right?”

Jason shrugged, “To each his own.”

“What?”

“I've got to escort the twins home since my parents are...not available. And I'm not waiting in the soccer-mom line,” Jason rolled his eyes.

“So they really are under house arrest. Amateurs.” Lip shook his head as he walked closer to Jason. “Your parents not being home wouldn't have anything to do with Max not being here would it?”

Jason cocked his head to the side, “It would.”

“Where did they go?”

The older boy gave a crooked grin, “I'm not the twins Lip; I won't just tell you whatever you want to know.”

“No, you're Max. You know what I'm going to say before I do half the time,” quipped Lip.

“I wouldn't have it any other way. Well, besides you saying I'm my sister. I'd prefer it if she took after me.”

“You really won't tell me?”

“I'm an awesome brother for a reason.”

Lip was laughing when he heard another car pull up next to him and Jason. They looked over to see Meg blasting _Fits & the Tantrums _from her car. Jason grinned even more and sauntered over to the driver side window, leaning in.

“You are in a no parking zone young miss.” Meg laughed and tilted her sunglasses down.

“You would be the one to tell me,” she said and looked pointedly to his car in front of them.

Lip rolled his eyes as he got in the passenger seat and replied for Jason, “To each his own, Meg.”

Jason grinned even wider and backed away from the car as Meg laughed again, putting the car in drive, eyes still on Jason.

“See you on Saturday?” Meg smiled and pushed her sunglasses back up.

“If I feel like it.”

“You will,” Jason assured her as Meg waved while pulling away.

Head in his hands Lip looked to Meg, “What's Saturday and how necessary was that?”

“None of your business. And highly.”


	10. Chapter 10

 The next day found Dean and Lip standing by their lockers, still debating the trouble spots of the walkabout. They had gone over it for hours last night and yet were still arguing over ways around them.

“I'm telling you Lip, you're underestimating Dr. Robertson. There's no way that you-”

“And I'm telling you, I've got her covered Dean. Just give Max the report today and she'll make the final decision,” Lip sighed.

“Fine, but you're totally getting a huge 'I told you so' later,” warned Dean.

Lip grunted under his breath. This job was getting to them all, in more ways than one and they were all feeling the pressure. But they each knew that even though they were only in the planning stage still, no one would back out. Red-five was too important to each of them.

“So this morning I came down to breakfast and found these on my backpack.” Lip caught the papers that were tossed at his head and frowned at them as he read them.

“College entrance essay workshops? What the hell is this shit? You're parents really think that you're going to agree to go to these things?” Lip laughed and threw them back into Dean's locker.

“Yeah but apparently, and I quote, 'Time is running out to get your act together young man.' They're even talking about college visits soon. What the hell am I supposed to do?” Dean was bitterly ripping up the brochures and tossing them behind him in the hall.

“That better not be the report you're supposed to give me. And littering is a crime.” Dean and Lip turned to see Max breeze by them as she headed to her locker with a coffee in her hands.

“Good morning to you too,” mumbled Dean.

“You're parents expect you to go to college, join the club. Put it off as long as possible and tell them you're thinking deeply about your future. Plus, I'd tell Max about the brochures during lunch, she should be able to help you out with the details.” Lip offered the last bit of advice reluctantly. He knew that Max would be able to help Dean, at the same time, he didn't like thinking how he pushed Dean towards her for more personal help.

“Maybe, she doesn't really seem in a good mood...and more tired if that's possible. Max is even wearing her glasses today. That's a bad sign right?”

Lip whipped his head around at this piece of information to look down the hall at Max. Dean was right: Max wasn't wearing her contacts, was wearing a tank top the opposite of school appropriate, and was sipping from a styrofoam coffee cup.

_Where the hell did she go yesterday? And what the hell did she DO?_

“Lip?” Dean was still waiting for an answer.

Lip nodded and let out a shaky breath, “Yeah, it's a bad sign alright.” In all their years as friends, Lip could count on one hand all the times he had seen Max this unkempt outside her house. Every instinct he had was telling him to go and pull Max into an empty classroom and just hold her until she finally told him what was going on. Instead he clenched his jaw and focused on taking slow, even breaths. Max had made it clear she didn't want his help on personal matters and she needed to realize how wrong she was on her own. Otherwise she would never really open up to him. He had to wait it out, make Max come to him, even if it tore him up inside to stay away.

Lip cleared his throat, “We need to give her the report. Let's go before the bell rings.” He and Dean headed down the hall towards their friend.

“Should we be concerned? Or say something?” Dean was walking as slowly as possibly and talking in a low voice.

“Just...play it cool.” Dean frowned at the advice; what the hell did that mean? And how was that even applicable to his question? He glanced to Lip, watching him clench and unclench his jaw when it finally hit him: Lip had no clue what to do. As unsettling as this news was, Dean decided to try not to think about it unless it affected Red-five.

“Do you have something for me or is it strewn about the floor?” Max's tone was sarcastic and tired as she tapped the books in her locker.

Dean glanced to Lip before responding, “I have it complete for you here. The...litter isn't related to Red-five but it is something that I need to talk to you about if you have some time.” Max accepted the file Dean handed her and leafed through it.

“Okay but not today, I have catch up to play,” she responded distractingly while pushing up her glasses. “You sure this is complete?”

“Positive. I can backup any issues you might have with it.”

Max finally looked up from the report at the sound of Lip's detached voice and swallowed hard. The look in his eyes was cold and impersonal. Yet Max couldn't help but think about how much she wanted to talk to him and let Lip in. How much she wanted to be held by him.

“I'll let you know,” Max said, giving away nothing, despite her thoughts. Lip nodded in response while Dean shifted nervously on his feet. Max grew irritated at the stares.

“Is there something that you'd like to say?” Her tone was even while her eyes were only slightly less than hostile.

Dean gulped and looked to Lip.

“We should get to class,” he said, his tone matching Max's perfectly. Max nodded and turned down the hall with the boys following her, shooting each other worried looks. Lip watched Max throughout class as she sipped her coffee and read Dean's report, carefully

making notes.

In biology Max slipped the class homework to Dean without a word. Once again Lip found himself watching Max from the corner of his eye. She was sitting perfectly straight with her shoulders tensed and hands folded in her lap. Lip couldn't help but notice the view. But then again, he also couldn't help but notice how the entire class she didn't take a single note about her favorite subject.

 _What the hell happened yesterday?_ Lip knew something was extremely wrong but had no clue as to what to do. He and Dean didn't see Max again until lunch where she was already seated and eating a nectarine when they arrived with a notepad in front of her. When Lip and Dean sat down Max looked up.

“I've made you each copies of the final walk-about results and the jobs that arose from it. I worked it into the schedule that Dean and I made and it all fits. Review it and let me know if there's a conflict anywhere. Not that I foresee one. They're in your spam and are gone at 11:42 tonight. Dean, do a final check for the assignments just to be safe and make sure it all works with the Slumber Party after the results of the walk-about and send me the draft for the email to the band. We send that out tonight. Lip, make sure the final assignments match the results of your walk-about. We can't afford any mistakes on this one. Send me your checks in the next 48 hours. Any questions?” Max bit into her nectarine and crossed an item off her notepad, looking at Lip and Dean expectantly.

“Nope, sounds good. Right Dean?” Lip kicked him under the table.

“Yep, we'll get right on it.” Dean replied quickly. “So how was the rest of your day yesterday?”

Max took a bite before answering, “Long. How was yours?”

“It was school, so the usual,” he shrugged and turned to his iPad, not knowing what was going on but knew it didn't concern him.

Max started doodling on her paper while Lip continued eating in silence. Max had done a lot in the last few hours and he could tell she was hyped up. Normally, this is when the two of them would go snooping around the school or eat lunch up on the roof, but not this time. He watched as Max stared intently at her paper and was wondering how she got this far through the day without getting in trouble for her clothes when she stood up suddenly.

“I have to get out here. I'll see you boys later.” And she was gone.

“Should I be worried even more?”

Lip sighed, “It's being handled.”

“You keep saying that.”

It was the last period of the day and Lip was wondering the halls thinking. Max had told him to back off and he did, more than she wanted. And the timing with Max skipping school and acting all un-Max like had to be more than a coincidence. But he couldn't say anything, not unless it started impacting Red-five and so far it hadn't, it had only made Max more efficient. Lip was about to round a corner when he heard familiar voices.

“Miss Bishop, I don't care that there is only 30 minutes left in the school day or even that you have permission to be in the hall. What I do care about is how teenage girls think that it is appropriate and acceptable to wear items of clothing such as yours in a school setting. It is indecent and morally wrong. Now, what do you have to say for yourself?” Old Mrs. Follert was towering over Max with her hands on her hips.

Max had gotten home at 3a.m and hadn't bothered to change out of her pj ensemble. She didn't really care about getting caught and sighed deeply. Talking out of this was going to be simple and she was almost bored with the challenge. Max opened her mouth to reply, but before she could say a thing, a zip up hoodie and arm were placed around her shoulders from behind.

“Sorry, Mrs. Follert. I stole Max's jacket as a joke last class and was just coming to find her to give it back. I didn't mean for her to get into trouble,” Lip spoke smoothly and confidently. Mrs. Follert blinked and then smiled, “Oh of course. I knew it had to be a misunderstanding. Max here never disobeys school policy. Have a nice afternoon children.” Max and Lip watched as she walked away and turned the corner. Max turned to Lip seething.

“What the hell was that?” _What does Lip think he's doing? God his arm felt nice...why does he keep doing this to me?_

“You look like shit today. Didn't think you could handle something like that.” Lip's bluntness snapped Max out of her thoughts.

“Don't you ever think for a second that I can't handle _any_ situation,” she replied coolly.

Lip scoffed, “Well when you're stupid enough to get caught jipping and you're dressing like the twins, who knows where your head is at.”

“What the hell is your problem?” Max hissed through her teeth, taking a step towards Lip. Why was he pushing this now?

“No problem. Just thought I'd point out what everyone was thinking today. You're a mess. Not that you'd ever admit it. But you know, you're Max Bishop, you can do whatever you want, screw the rest of us.” Lip was bitter as he stepped forward to meet Max.

“Ugh, seriously? Get over yourself Lip. I can take care of myself and my business is my business. No one else.” Max rolled her eyes, maintaining a nonchalant demeanor even though her heart was pounding in her chest so loud she was sure Lip could hear it, especially since he was standing so close.

“It used to be my business. You used to talk to me, before you decided you didn't need anyone,” Lip said in a low voice. He hadn't meant to start all this with Max again but when he decided to rescue the unrescuable, Lip couldn't help the words that came out of his mouth. The thoughts that had been building up over the days.

Max shook her head, “It's time to grow up Lip. Things aren't so simple anymore.”

“You made them complicated, not me. Remember that. Remember that I tried to help you and you decided that you were too good for me.”

“I have never said that,” Max replied flippantly.

“You didn't have too. You're not going to talk to me about this, fine. But the second this affects Red-five, I'm pulling you out. No argument, no discussion. And when this is finished, if you decide you don't want to be friends anymore, fine. Just know that you will regret this. All of this. And you want to talk about 'growing up'? I will when you do.”

The bell rang in the hallway and students filed out of classrooms, ready to go home. Students surrounded Max and Lip, who remained unmoving.

“I don't know what the hell this bitchy attitude is but it stops now,” Max's voice was ice as she pointed towards Lip. “I didn't ask your opinion and I sure as hell don't want it. So stay out of my personal life.”

Lip huffed as he grabbed Max's finger, “You asked for it, you got it. But for the record, this is the last time you ever get to order me around outside of Red-five, treat me like I'm beneath you. But I guarantee you, like I said, you will regret this.” Max yanked her finger from Lip's hand. “And put some clothes on for Christ's sake.” Lip stalked off leaving Max fuming in the hallway with students walking around her. After a moment she turned and headed in the opposite direction, pushing through students. Max stormed to her locker to grab her books, the only thought in her mind: get the hell out of school.  


	11. Chapter 11

The next few days were tense in school, with Lip and Max keeping a cool politeness between them and Dean having no clue what was going on. Red-five's plans were exchanged rapidly via email though, everybody being precise and on schedule. Chemically Insane had responded promptly to the email, the band members remembering the stories about Red-five knew that this was a golden opportunity. They readily agreed to all of the conditions that Dean and Max laid out for them, even leaving their equipment in an empty parking lot to be picked up.

Dean and Lip were on their way now to collect the equipment with Lip driving. The boys had driven in silence, Lip deep in thought and was startled when Dean asked him:

“Should I be worried about you and Max?” Lip glanced over at Dean who was staring out the window.

“Nothing going on has anything to do with Red-five,” he replied. Lip heard Dean sigh.

“But it does have something to do with how strange Max has been acting. And I didn't mention Red-five.”

“I know. But I don't. Max isn't talking to me anymore.”

“Never would have guessed,” Dean said dryly.

“I honestly have no clue what's going on with her. But you should probably know that after one of our arguments-”

“So there have been multiple.”

“-I told her that we might not be friends after this.” Lip finished this part in a rush, his own voice sounding strange, hearing those words. The car was silent for a moment.

“Woah,” breathed Dean.

“Yeah.” The friends were silent for another minute until Max's voice came through a walkie talkie, making both of them jump.

“The band is long gone and you're clear.” Max was hiding in the parking garage to make sure the boys wouldn't be seen. Dean fumbled for his walkie talkie while Lip shakily ran a hand through his hair. Dean pushed the the talk button.

“Okay...um, we're uh-” Dean looked to Lip desperately.

“You're what Dean? Are you here or not?” Max's tone was sharp. Lip sighed as he made a turn and gestured for Dean to push the talk button again.

“We're on the third level, coming out of the corridor now. We'll have eyes in 45 seconds,” Lip rattled off the information he knew Max was waiting for.

“Good, see you then.” Dean dropped the device onto the car floor, causing Lip to glance over at him.

“Problem? You seem not to know where we are.”

“Problem? You want to know if I have a problem? You just told me that you and Max are, basically, no longer friends and then are perfectly business not 10 seconds later,” Dean threw his hands up in the air.

Lip shook his head, “This is Red-five, this is different. And don't worry, there's no way that Max will really allow my threat to go through.

Dean paused, thinking about Max, “I've seen you two play epic battles of stubbornness before. And I've never known Max to lose. So are you sure?”

Lip pulled into the parking spot and saw Max emerge from behind a pillar, taking a deep breath, he answered Dean, “Positive.” He and Dean climbed out of the car and walked over to the band equipment neatly stacked in a corner where Max was waiting.

“What was that in the car?” Max asked as she picked up a guitar case and walked to the car.

“Nothing related. Everything here?” Dean looked from Lip to Max, talking in formal, barely polite tones to each other while loading the car.

“It's all accounted for. Do you need help unloading at the storage locker?” Max still hadn't looked at him.

Lip frowned, “Not really. Why?”

“I'll take Dean with me if you don't need help. Look at the college brochures his parents gave him.” Max turned to Dean. “If you still want to?”

Dean turned to Lip, “Do you mind?” he asked somewhat desperately.

Lip shook his head and shut the trunk to his car, “It's fine, go ahead. I'll see you at school Dean.” Lip went to the driver's door and got in, calling “Later, Max.” and shut the door.

Max turned to Dean, “Let's go,” and headed off to her car with Dean quickly following.

“I really appreciate this Max,” Dean started as they drove out of the parking garage. “I'm seriously started to freak out just thinking about going to college and we still have another year of high school left!”

“You do know that most students know where they're going by the fall of their senior year right?” Max glanced over to see Dean pale even more. “Calm down and take some deep breaths. You should probably talk to Lip about this at some point, see where he's looking at.” Max casually added the last bit on, fishing, knowing she would catch something. When she saw Dean shake his head, she winced a little at manipulating her friend for information.

“Lip hasn't really thought about it much. But he has mentioned that he would want to go somewhere near you or me.” If Dean was paying attention, he would have seen Max gulp. “But we all know that you can go anywhere you want and Lip can play soccer anywhere so that leaves him wide open too, you know?” At this he turned to Max who had composed herself.

She shrugged, “Well we'll see.” With that Max leaned over and turned up the radio, blasting _AWOLNATION,_ the rest of the car ride to her house. She spent the rest of the afternoon explaining why Dean's parents gave him the brochures, detailed his school choices and even picked out the least painful resume seminar for him to enroll in.

“I mean, you'll have to pull a few grades up next year just for show but all that means is actually putting some effort in so no big deal,” Max spoke reassuring, lounging in her desk chair, to Dean who was stretched out on two bean bag chairs with his iPad on his stomach. Dean raised his eyebrows in response. “I'm serious Dean. You have nothing to worry about, you can market your computer skills to the max and schools will drool over you. And the SAT's aren't as big of a deal as people make them out to be.”

“How would you know?” Dean groaned.

“I thought you knew better than to question me by now,” Max quipped, getting a laugh from her old friend.

“You're right, I apologize,” Dean replied automatically. “It all seems so much to think about.”

Max gave a small smile, “I know but you do have time to think about it. I'll send you the information about the SAT's so you're signed up in time. Maybe Lip still has to take them too.”

“Yeah, good idea. What about you?” Max blinked. “I mean, you haven't taken them yet right?”

“I've already taken care of it. But it's a good idea for you to go with someone else so you don't feel so stressed.” Not for the first time that day Max gave herself a mental slap for working her friend that day.

Dean nodded and slowly climbed to his feet, “My head hurts. But I should get going.”

“You don't want to stay for dinner? Or do you want a ride home?”

“No, I need the walk to think but thanks anyways. And thanks for the information today Max. I don't know what I'd do without you,” Dean smiled, leaning against the door frame.

 _I'm so sorry._ “Anytime Dean. I'll ways help you, that's what friends are for.”

“I'll see you on Monday.” Dean waved as he walked out the door.

“See you on Monday, Dean.” Max called softly behind him. When she heard the front door close, Max leaned forward and banged her head off of her desk and sighed.

“Pull it together, Max,” she groaned to herself, picking her head up and pulling out a folder. Max opened it and pulled out a detailed timeline and a marker, crossing today off the list. She tapped the marker, studying the paper for several minutes until her computer made a ping noise. Max looked up and grinned at the forwarded email from the band, right on schedule to be sure the transaction took place.

Despite her personal life being in chaos, Red-five was going beautifully and that was enough for Max. For now.  


	12. Chapter 12

 The next two weeks flew by. Dean had Lip over at his house most days after school and when Lip wasn't there, Dean was with Max acting as liaison. Tension was still high between the friends and the approaching deadline only added to it. For Dean, frustration was added to his stress and while Max tried to be mindful of his situation, Lip couldn't help himself sometimes and didn't even bother to be subtle.

“How was Max's mood?” Dean sighed as he let Lip in the door.

“Do you even bother with saying hi to anyone or am I just special?”

Lip didn't pause as he continued up the front stairs to Dean's bedroom, “You're as special as they come. How was she today?”

“Quiet. You know how bad I am at picking up moods,” reminded Dean. He sat down on his bed and watched Lip pace in front of him not responding. “You want to sit and stay or just go see how Max is doing for yourself?”

“Nope,” Lip said quickly and dropped to the floor.

“Well stop asking then.” Lip looked up in time to see Dean toss a file at him. “The Slumber Party is finalized, the Keriug is solved, equipment is ready to be moved and there's a problem with the janitors.”

Lip paused while reading the up-dated files and looked up again frowning, “What problem? Did their schedule change? That's nothing that Max shouldn't be able to handle.”

Shaking his head Dean, flopped back on his bed, “No, it's me. My parents told me last night that I have an appointment that overlaps with it so Max is out her wingman.”

“Like I said, nothing Max can't handle.” Lip was back in the paperwork, not seeing the words in front of him. He knew what Dean was trying to say but couldn't comment. Somehow he and Max had managed to limit their interactions in and out of school. It was for the best Lip kept telling trying to tell himself; if only he believed it. Lip barely even saw Max in school anymore; she would speak briefly to Dean before classes and at the beginning of lunch and then disappeared. Max focused on class, no more passing notes or sharing looks but that was when she was in class. More and more Lip saw her leaving school early or simply wandering the halls in the middle of class. He knew her problems weren't over and judging by Dean's observations the stress was getting to Max.

Lip knew that the Janitor Game would only work if there was two of them but he also knew that he had to make Max ask first. He was going to make her crack in any way that he could and Lip would call this a win.

“Max needs a wingman,” Dean pointed out.

“She knows where I am if she needs me.”

“Are you really going to pull a dick move like this with Red-five?” Dean couldn't believe how bad things had gotten. And he never thought Lip would go this far.

Lip sat up, “What did Max say when you told her you had to bow out?”

“I told you, I can't gauge her moods-”

“No, what did she _say?_ ”

“Max just nodded and told me not to worry about it.”

Lip nodded his head, “And then kicked you out right after.”

“-Yeah.”

“Didn't even offer to drive you home.”

“Why'd you ask if you knew already?” Dean glared at Lip. Of all people Lip would be able to describe Max without even being there.

“Dean....when you were with Max today, was she focused or did she keep going back to things you already discussed?” Dean looked over to see Lip staring blankly at the wall.

“She forgot about the Keurig. What are you thinking?”

Lip just shook his head: Max was going downhill. So far it hadn't affected Red-five but he needed to keep a closer eye on her. She had two days to approach him about the wingman job before he pulled her out. He had to do something.

“Lip?”

“Call her later tonight, make up a reason. School related. Anything.” Lip got up and headed for the door.

“What's the point?” Dean didn't see how this would help anyone but him.

“Keep her from letting her mind wander. It's dangerous.”

Max sat quietly at her dinner table with the rest of her family eating dinner. The twins were theatrically describing their day while trying to talk their parents out of house arrest. She had managed to tune them out for the most part, at first thinking about Red-five and the problem Dean brought up today. Unfortunately that led her to Lip and how lonely she had felt for the past two weeks. Max had done her part to make sure she didn't spend anytime around Lip than necessary. She knew how easy it would be to break down and tell him everything but with Red-five being so close, Max wouldn't risk it. Better for Lip to hate her than for her to disappoint him. Max was still staring absently at the wall when she heard her name mentioned in the most recent rant.

“-whatever she wants _including_ having boys over!” Corina pouted. Max rolled her eyes and bit her tongue. Let her parents handle it before she said something to get in trouble.

“That's because Maxima has earned our trust and cleaning your room doesn't count,” Jerome Bishop shot a look at Corina, silencing any comment she may have had.

“You can't expect us to just be like Max! Otherwise we'd be nobodies too!” Max couldn't believe how Kathryn managed to stomp her foot while sitting.

“We don't expect you to model Maxima or Jason for that matter. What we _do_ expect is for you to behave and not fail your classes!” Once again Max bit back her comment thanking her mother for defending her oldest daughter. Sometimes she couldn't understand how she and Jason were related to the rest of their family.

“But you let her get away with anything! And just because she's being all prestige and leav-”

“-I am not the problem nor part of the solution to any of this, so leave me out of this horrible idiotic excuse for a negotiation and come up with a better argument if you are even capable of mounting one. If I were you, I'd try Google since you're best _not_ left to your own devices.” With that Max swiftly stood and left the dining room, leaving her family quietly staring after her.

Max was laying on her bed staring at a book when her cell phone range an hour later.

“What?”

“Outbursts at dinner? Sounds like you're losing your edge Max,” Jason chuckled. Max dropped her face into the bedspread listening to Jason continue, his voice getting serious. “I mean, I understand the twins represent a truly horrid epitome of the teenage population but again, at dinner?”

Max picked up her head to dryly reply, “Since when are you the guru of all things in the world? And who the hell told you?”

“Ooh so bitter, so bitter. It's been what, three weeks since I left? Tell me you haven't completely fallen to pieces already because, really Max, it's just disappointing.” Jason heard Max take a shaky breath and knew he hit the mark and waited.

“I've really made a mess of things.” Jason sighed when he heard his sister's quiet voice. He had been afraid of this day, the day Max was too smart for her own good and finally realized. Jason kept waiting.

“Lip won't even look at me anymore so I've made myself....scarce. And when he does...it just hurts me more...knowing what I'm doing...and going to do.”

“Max, you have to tell him what's going on. Don't ruin your friendship over this,” Jason urged.

“Why bother? He hates me now and in one week that will be cemented forever. Why have a conversation that will just hurt both of us?” Max's voice was deflated.

“For the first time ever, you're not thinking with your head Max, you've just convinced yourself that you are.”

“Why am I talking to you about this? You've made it extremely clear that you never want to be involved with mine or the twins' personal lives. Now you're calling from school about this. Who's the girl?” Max could practically hear Jason's grin over the phone.

“Because you're making a mistake and you refuse to actually talk to someone who can help. But it's good to know you're not completely gone. And her name is Dmitra.”

For the first time in days Max smiled, “Greek? And she's putting up with you?”

“Nice change of subject,” Jason chuckled.

“Meaning she hasn't, meaning you actually haven't asked her out which means you actually like this girl,” Max sat up.

“...She may be slightly out of my league.”

“Well you might have to actually have to put some effort into thus huh?” laughed Max. “How far out of your league?'

“Quirky pre-med genius.”

“Quiet and devious. Meg?”

“Completely; she hides it well. And just friends.”

“Way out of your league and not your usual type.”

“I haven't forgotten why I called you Max.”

Max sighed, “Me neither. I'll handle it, okay?”

“Because you've been doing such a swell job so far,” Jason flatly replied.

“Because I can do this. Just like you can convince your tutor to go on a date with you.”

“I don't do policies. Keep your head up Max.”

“Yeah, good luck to you too, Jason.” Max hung up shaking her head. Her brother had made some fair points, but that didn't mean he was right. Maybe.

Jason shook his head as he dialed another number; he knew that Max wasn't going to listen to him.

“Yeah?”

“What the hell are you doing? I tell you not to give up on Max and what are you doing? Playing stubborn-teen chicken?” Lip's eyes widened as Jason berated him over the phone.

“You don't know-”

“Know what? Maybe I don't have the whole story but this is what I do know,” Jason pinched the bridge of his nose. “I told you that she _needed you._ I told you that she's confused and upset. I told you to get your thumbs out of your ass and _do something._ And now Max is having outbursts at dinner, she's tired, doleful and barely goes to class anymore. What the hell is your problem? I actually gave you permission to be with my sister, save my sister, and you decided to watch her self-implode instead.”

Lip gulped and let out a breath when Jason stopped; he didn't realize he was holding it. Never did Lip think that Jason would call about this, about Max. He didn't know where to start and went with the most basic deflection question he knew: “Doleful? Who bought you a thesaurus over break?”

“Nice try but try another door. You've fucked up and now I want to know how you're going to fix it,” Jason demanded. Lip bit back a groan with the reminder of how alike Jason and Max were, especially when he talked to them.

“Max has to come to me.” Lip went with the direct route.

“No shit, but why the hell should she if you've pissed her off beyond belief? How are you going to fix this?” Jason bit off.

“You don't get it Jason! I can apologize all I want but we both know Max still won't tell me what's going on. I tried but she pushed me away again and again; she could not have been more clear. Trust me.” Lip had had enough of the verbal beat down. Truthfully, he knew Jason was right and it felt good to have someone call him out. Like Max always would.

“I think I'm through trusting-”

“You don't think it kills me to see her everyday? To see her tired and stressed? To see her give the fakest smile to Dean, not even look me in the eye and then to see her walk away? She has stopped going to class and if she does, Max isn't taking notes. She just sits there,” Lip sighed. “Staring and stoic. You won't tell me what's wrong and I have to respect that but it's getting to the point of no return isn't it? She's on another time line that's coming to a close.”

“....Max's operating under the belief that she's reached that point already,” admitted Jason.

“Then what are my options? Our time line is finished this week and I had to run my mouth and declare that that's the end of our friendship.”

“Oh my god,” Jason dryly laughed. “You gave her the perfect out. And you don't even know.”

“Tell me,” grounded out Lip.

“By the end of next week you won't have to worry about Max ignoring you.”

“What does-”

“Because she won't be around to ignore you.” Jason said quickly, mentally berated himself for betraying Max's trust but something had to be done. He waited for more questions to come but Lip was silent.

“Lip?”

“How do I fix this?” Lip's low voice came over the phone. His grip on the phone tightened as he sank slowly to the floor.

“I've tried to talk to her about this but...you know Max. Stop ignoring her and make her see you again. You've been too passive aggressive about this; get inside her head again. You have one week to fix this. Get it done.” Jason hung up and let out a breath; this was a mess. Someone knocked on his dorm door and called his name.

“Jason?”

Jason shot up and opened the door quickly. “Dmitra, hey. What can I do for you?”

The brunette cocked her head and gave the disheveled boy a curious look, “Well, you didn't show up for tutoring. I wanted to make sure you were okay?” Jason's mouth opened and closed several times, not sure what to say. He couldn't go with the usual lines and being dorky didn't work for all girls.

“Family things. My sister is too smart for her own good; can't see a good thing when it's right in front of her.” Jason opted for honest. “Sorry to make you come up here.”

Dmitra smiled, “Don't worry about it. While it's surprising she would choose her brother, it's probably good for your sister to talk about it, no offense.”

Jason shook his head and sighed, “None taken but there lies the problem. She's too much like me and prefers to handle everything on her own.” He paused and decided to take a chance, “Do you want to come in?”

“Do you have coffee?” Dmitra countered.

Jason grinned, “Moot question. How do you feel about policies?”

Dmitra laughed.  


	13. Chapter 13

 Lip sat on his floor with the phone still in his lap. Max was leaving. He didn't know why or where to but Max was leaving. For a month? For the rest of the year? Forever? Lip's mind was racing, searching for clues in anything that Max might have said. She had been careful though; he never would have guessed...this. He kept thinking and suddenly it hit him: not what Max said but what Dean had told him:

_Max said her SATs are taken care of._

_Max mentioned not working for Heller's this summer._

_Max gave me these college brochures._

_Max said she couldn't wait to not have to deal with the twins._

Max was leaving. Lip dropped his head into his hands and groaned; he had to fix this but how? He didn't know how long he sat there when Lip finally picked up his phone again and texted Dean: **I'm covering the job. Tell Max before meeting tonight.**

A few hours later Lip stood in the dark behind a tree outside the high school. He raised his walkie when Max and Dean pulled up across the parking lot:

“Good on my end. Dean?”

“Camera's looped, all good.” Nonetheless, Lip pulled up his hood and took a deep breath before he jogged over to the car where Max was opening the hatchback as Dean headed towards a window. He came up behind her and reached over the startled girl.

“What the-”

“Let me get that.” Lip grabbed the equipment Max had been reaching for. Only when he had pulled it from the car did he look at Max, her bright eyes barely visible under her low hat. “The Cowboys still suck,” he mentioned, pointing to said hat before turning away. Lip went to the door that Dean was currently coming out of and walked in silently while grinning to himself.

“You said that Lip offered to cover for you?” Max's voice was unreadable.

“You know you need a wingman.” Max's head whipped around to face the boy behind her who know froze. “And...y-yes. He offered.”

“Are you two going to help?” came Lip's voice from the door. Max handed Dean a box and grabbed a folder, marching over to Lip.

“Here's the plan Dean and I came up with for Thursday. It's simple enough that you should understand without too many problems. Any questions? No? Good.” Max slapped the folder on Lip's chest and continued into the school.

“Well she took to that kindly enough,” Lip quipped. “What?”

Dean was shaking his head, “You might want to read that. There have been some....adjustments that you should be aware of.”

“So?”

“So Max was not expecting you to be the wingman.” Dean moved to go into the school.

“Dean-”

“Let's just finish this and get out of here. We're on a timer remember?” Dean said as he walked away.

15 minutes later the three stood back at the car.

“Begin 7:47 sharp,” Max said. “No matter what tomorrow, do not go off the clock. You two ready?”

Lip nodded and grinned, “Gotcha. Nothing to worry about Max, we got this.” He kept grinning despite the cold look he got in response and he realized Jason was right: he had to get Max to notice him again. Lip clapped Dean on the back and smiled wider. “See you tomorrow morning,” and walked away, heading to his car, counting under his breath: “two...one-”

“Don't for-”

“Forget to do my reading,” Lip called over his shoulder while waving the folder above his head. “I told you it's covered, get some sleep Maxie!” Max stared at Lip's retreating back, not hearing Dean next to her call her name.

“Max?” Dean was getting worried now.

The confused teen shook her head, “Ready to go Dean?” and took off to her car, deep in thought, barely noticing Dean following. After dropping Dean off at home Max drove the long ways to her house. Something had changed, Lip was acting different and she didn't know what to think about it, especially this week. He was up to something, that was for sure.

 _And Dean obviously didn't give him a head's up about the janitor job otherwise there would be no way he would volunteer for it...right?_ Max's kept going until she found herself in her driveway, phone in hand waiting for Jason to answer.

“Pick up coward,” she muttered under her breath. Hearing the call go to voicemail for the fifth time Max scowled, “Listen up you schmuck: I don't know what you did or what you said but you better call me back. Now. Before I let Dmitra know what kind of guy you really are.” Max hung up and started to head inside, she knew she needed sleep to get through tomorrow.

Lip sat in the middle of his bed, not able to sleep. His hair was sticking up more than usual and his eyes kept drifting to the safe under his desk. Where the file was. The janitor job. The job he had to help Max on. Because she needed to notice him.

“She was going to run this with Dean,” he mumbled out-loud. “What the hell? They can't be serious.” Lip kept staring.

Dean rolled over in bed, hearing his phone go off and fumbled for the nightstand.

“I cannot unlock your computer over the phone.”

“Dean, it's me.” Dean sat up in bed, more awake now.

“Lip, what the hell man? It's 2 a.m, what-”

“Were you really going to run this job with Max?” Lip's tone was too awake for this hour. Too awake and too professional.

“I tried warning you...”Dean stifled a yawn.

“Who's idea was it?” The question came out tight.

“Max's of course,” Dean sighed. “She went through a few plays and this is the best one we came up with. You said it yourself, this job had to be airtight.”

“And you agreed to this?”

“It's Max, you don't say no to Max.”

“This isn't a regular job,” snapped Lip.

“You don't think I know that? Listen, are you seriously bugging out about this?”

“Are you really not seeing where I have an issue?”

“Spell it out; it's too early for me to even try,” Dean flopped back in bed.

“You. And. Max.” Each word was drawn out. “Got it yet?”

Dean sighed, “Yep, I think. Sorry but it was her decision. And now it's you and Max. So that's got to be better right?”

“Listen-”

“I'm going to sleep, you can keep talking if you want. But try to sleep. Max will kill you if you frak up tomorrow.” Lip heard a dial tone before he could say a word. He laid back in bed and stared at the ceiling until he fitfully fell asleep with one thought on his mind: _Damn she's good._


	14. Chapter 14

7:35a.m found Max sitting in her car in the school parking lot, sipping her coffee. Tomorrow was the day and everything had to go smoothly in the next 24 hours in order for this to work.

“Maybe I wouldn't be so nervous if I knew what the hell Lip was up to...” she mumbled around her coffee. Everything was about to fall into place and then he had to “What? What is he doing?” Max couldn't figure it out but Lip knew something, that was for sure. And whatever it was, he thought it was a game changer and she had to approach the issue cautiously. Without giving anything away too quickly. At this point, she was positive that if Lip found out before Red-five was finished he would pull the plug in an instant. And Max was not about to let that happen.

Max sighed and finally climbed from the car, glancing at her phone as it went off.

_We need to talk._

_Jason,_ Max thought. _Now he wants to talk._ She shook her head and put the phone away as she felt someone walk up along side her. Keeping her gaze forwards, Max kept walking.

“Good morning Lip. You look like crap.”

“Good morning Maxie. You're looking as bright as ever,” Lip replied evenly. Seeing Max shoot him a look, Lip smiled. “You're going to have to pee when you finish that third cup of coffee.”

“I scheduled it in, don't worry.” The comeback was out before Max could stop herself. It was just so natural with Lip. She was careful to keep her face neutral as Lip chuckled. “I would have brought you a cup if I had known you weren't going to sleep.”

“Had some reading to do,” Lip offered back. “And besides, we both know you would have drunk it before it got to me anyhow.”

 _Stay in control._ “Keep on time. You should have slept. You need to be on your game today,” Max lowered her voice as they passed other students entering the school. Max glanced at her watch. 7:44. Three minutes to go. Feeling Lip change his pace Max stopped as the taller teen stepped in front of her to look Max in the eye.

“I'm always on top of my game. You're the one I'm worried about.”

Max looked around subtly, “Don't start-”

“Not starting anything. Just expressing my concerns. Besides, we both know today won't be a problem. This is child's play. And I'm way more interested in seeing your A-game for tomorrow.” Lip raised his eyebrows and smirked before walking away. Max would have paused if she could have stopped the nagging voice in her head telling her to keep on schedule.

 _Oh that boy is going to kill me... Shake it off Max._ Max saw her target up ahead. _Showtime._

“Mr. Sealey!” The balding teacher turned around and regarded the short brunette confidently approaching him. “A moment of your time sir?”

“Classes are about to start...” He knew the name but couldn't place it. The girl gave a small smile as he glanced at his watch, already knowing what time it was: 7:46.

“Maxima Bishop, sir,” Max's smile grew as she saw the recognition flicker across his face. “I promise I won't take too much of your time.”

Mr. Sealey sighed but inwardly was intrigued as to why this infamous student wanted to talk to him. “Follow me to my office then.”

“Thank you. As I'm sure you're aware....” Max followed the teacher down the hall, keeping her gaze away Dean as she walked by but extremely aware of his presence. He was right on time and Mr. Sealey was about to be eating from the palm of her hand.

Dean watched Max charm the teacher as they walked away from him, not noticing Lip behind him until he spoke.

“7:47, am I clear to go?” Lip asked quietly, registering Dean's small nod from the corner of his eye.

“I'll see you in 7 minutes,” said Dean.

Lip grinned as his mark came in view, “Keep your head down.” Dean chuckled quietly as he watched Lip saunter up to Mrs. Phillippa. The warning bell rang above his head but Dean kept his dark head ducked over his iPad, monitoring the time and the hall. Three minutes down and Dean saw Max come around a corner, right on schedule, heading towards the teacher on hall duty for the week, effectively pulling her away from the teacher that Lip was now approaching. Dean shifted against the wall for a different view of the hall. Two minutes later and he saw Max disappearing around the corner with a different mark. He watched the time as Lip, 30 seconds later, showed up with the final player, giving Dean his cue to go to class, right on schedule.

Dean sat down in the back of the room, eyes darting between the clock and the door. 7:55 and Lip came through the door and quietly took his seat next to a confused Dean.

“Max?”

“She scheduled in bathroom time,” Lip laughed under his breath. “It's all shiny.”

Dean continued to frown as he watched the clock until Max sailed through the door, 7:57, her eyes bright over her coffee mug as she glanced quickly to the back of the room before taking her seat. Lip and Dean grinned at each other as class started; it had gone perfectly.

Throughout class Lip watched as Max could not sit still. Granted, no one else could tell because it was Max and her idea of fidgeting was wiggling her foot and rubbing her hands. Lip laughed to himself; Max could never be like everybody else. He could tell she was hyped up and there was no way she was going to make it through the day without exploding. So by the end of class Lip had made a plan.

“Max and I won't be in bio. I'll see you later,” he said to Dean and took off.

Talking to Alicia, Max was trying to ignore Lip walking closely behind her in the hall to biology.

 _Oh not now._ Max barely heard Alicia, too aware of Lip now and so she wasn't startled when she felt him reach forward and stop her from entering the classroom.

“Follow me.” Maybe Max could have stopped Lip from dragging down the hall but she had to admit to herself: there was no way she was going to be able to sit through another class right now. So she let Lip lead her away and couldn't stop herself from smiling when Lip picked a lock to reveal the ladder to the roof. The two ex-friends climbed up in silence.

Max sat down on the roof with a sigh, her knees tucked under her chin, staring at the woods behind the school. Lip stood behind her, watching the girl taking deep breaths, lost in her own world. He sat down next to Max, carefully keeping his distance as not to push her too much but he could still see her tense next to him.

“Lip-”

“We won't talk.” Cool eyes met his. “I promise. Just breath. And know you're not alone.” Max looked quickly from the tender look on Lip's face.

“Breath Maxie,” Lip gently reminded her and laid back, being sure he could still see Max struggling to come down from her high. The two didn't speak, both lost in thought. Lip, remembering how good it felt to be with Max and realizing how long the past month had been. And Max, noting how well Lip could read her, realized how this moment might not ever happen again.

Over half an hour had passed when Lip heard Max all but whisper, “We're going to pull off a Slumber Party.”

Lip sat up with a small smile. “Desperate teenagers can't pull that off with two players.”

Max turned her head towards Lip with an unreadable expression. “We have six. And we're going to pull it off.” Max lifted her head and looked up. “It's just a matter of time and everything else working but I can feel it. We're going to pull off a Slumber Party.”

“Like you ever had any doubts?”

Max turned to face Lip. “You did.” Her response was so quiet he almost didn't hear Max. Her face was still unreadable but he could see it, the hurt and the problems swirling about her head.

“Momentary lapse of judgment. Won't ever happen again.” Lip could still see Max's mind working and knew what was going to happen as she stood up and turned away towards the door. “Don't go.” Max froze and slowly turned around, there was no mistaking the sadness in his voice. _He knows._ Lip was looking into the woods. Right now he couldn't control himself that well and knew that Max could make him talk.

“I'll...I'll see you in lunch, Phil,” Max finally said and hurried off the roof. Lip definitely had a game changer.

 


	15. Chapter 15

 Lip sat on the roof still not moving for several more minutes until he heard his phone buzzing in his pocket.

“Yeah?”

“You're still alive. That's good,” Jason sighed. With Max's messages and her ignoring his texts he hadn't known what to think.

Lip rubbed his head, “Yeah I'm alive. But I assure you just barely.”

“Look, I can't talk long, class is about to start. How is she?”

“Noticing me. Max knows that I know something but details are fuzzy. On both our ends.” Lip paused and contemplated his next question. “No matter what I do, is Max leaving either way?”

“...Most likely. But trust me on this Lip, you need to fix this before she does. You know Max doesn't give second chances. I'll talk to you later.”

“Great,” sighed Lip. “Just fraking fantastic.” Through the door Lip heard the bell ring, causing him to stand up and make his way towards the ladder. After this morning he knew it would be risky to skip too many classes. Not with so much on the line. Lip behaved for the rest of the morning, only leaving class early to meet Max on her way out of class before lunch.

“Hey you,” the boy drawled while sauntering up to Max, registering her apprehension of the situation only as sharp intake of breath.

“Everything okay?”

“Yep. You?” Max rolled her eyes. Lip was barely trying to be subtle and his casual tone was anything but casual to her.

“I have to detour before lunch. See you there.” Lip kept walking straight without pausing as Max took a sudden left and was smiling to himself as Dean met up with him outside the cafeteria.

“You're creeping me out with that smile. Cut it out and get some food.”

Lip and Dean went through the lunch line making idle conversation about plans for the weekend. As they came out of the line Dean saw Max sitting at their usual table and knew he had to ask:

“How shiny is the Max situation?” Lip glanced to Dean as he paid for his lunch and thought about his answer. He didn't want to lie to Dean but knew how carefully Max had been playing them all and had to admit it was for their own good, kind of.

“I'm working on it. Try not to question anything that goes down,” Lip muttered to Dean as they made their way across the cafeteria, reaching Max before Dean could respond. He quickly understood what Lip meant though as Lip was barely sitting down before he began.

“Got anything good today, Maxie?”

“Better than that flash frozen food you have.” Again Max bit her tongue at her inability to resist the snarky comeback. _Dammit_ _Lip._

Lip laughed, “Good thing there isn't that much time left here then, isn't it?”

Max exhaled slowly, staring at Lip with wide eyes, “What exactly does that mean, Lip?” she asked quietly and evenly.

Lip noted the controlled breathing and kept her gaze, “Not even two months left of school, Max. What else would I mean?” His tone was light but Max saw the sadness in his face and forced herself not to look away.

“You're not as good as you think.”

Lip grinned, “Neither are you, sweetheart.” His grin widen as he registered Max's breathing increasing. “But like I said this morning, I can't wait to see your A-game tomorrow.”

Max narrowed her eyes at Lip; he was way too relaxed for her sanity right now and he was seriously pushing her patience. But she was never one to back down from a challenge and once again it was time to put Lip in his place.

_If he wants to play, let's play._

“I'm not the one I'd be worried about.” Lip's grin began to falter at the confident words. “You might want to ask Jason or someone for advice tonight; we all know you don't have _any_ experience in this area to fall back on.”

“Oh and I'm sure you do.” Lip bit out the statement. He knew Max was playing but with as absent as she had been, who knows what Max had been up to. Lip could feel his chest tighten when the teen laughed and ran her hands through her hair before smiling playfully but full of challenge in her eyes.

“Sweetheart,” Max mentally slapped herself for being so mean to her ex-best friend. “Just follow my lead tomorrow,” she paused and stood to leave. “I'm better than you can imagine.”

Dean stared at Max's retreating back, letting out a breath that he seemed to be holding for hours. He might not know what was going on but Dean was officially on high alert. He turned to Lip, expecting some sort of explanation or comment but the other boy was silent and stone-faced, in his own head trying to convince himself that Max was only lying. Trying to convince himself that the girl he loved hadn't been seeing other people behind his back, just to prove she could.

“I got to go,” muttered Dean as he grabbed his things, barely noticing Lip's nod. Dean waved a paper at the lunch monitor absent-mindlessly as he all but ran out of the cafeteria. He didn't really know what was going on between Max and Lip but he was past the worried stage. Dean made his way to the technology offices and headed to his cubicle for privacy as he pulled out his cell-phone.

“Hello?”

“Meg? You have a minute?”


	16. Chapter 16

The rest of the day passed slowly and tensely for the three teens. Dean, having been reassured by Meg that Lip had shown no sign of a mental breakdown, decided to follow the plan that they had made and stay out of whatever the hell was happening. Lip and Max had always been a little bit different and Dean knew that it was better for his own sanity to keep away.

Still feeling wound up, Max found herself driving after school, not really caring where she went. After about two hours she noticed she was about to pass the exit for Jason's college and impulsively took it. Max couldn't talk to the one person she really needed but Jason was a close second. Driving through the campus Max couldn't help but think this was a bad idea. After finding a parking space and getting into Jason's dorm when other students were leaving, Max couldn't help but think that this was a terrible idea.

Standing in the lobby, debating whether or not to flirt some boys walking by into letting her use their key card for the elevator or just leaving, Max was once again struck with a thought that had recently become common for her: _What the hell am I doing?_ The fact that this was now a usual occurrence for her annoyed Max enough to head towards the college guys. A few minutes later Max was making her way slowly down the third floor hall when she finally remembered to look at her watch to realize that Jason was still in class for another 15 minutes. Standing outside Jason's door Max once again debated just leaving, still not exactly sure why she was there, or picking the lock, when she heard the elevator ping and her name being called. Turning towards the voice, Max saw Jason breakaway from the group exiting and watched as his face grew concerned as he got closer and took in the expression on Max's face. An expression that, for once in her life, Max had no clue was telling others.

“Max, what are you doing here? Why didn't you call me?” Jason kept a steady gaze on his sister, knowing that this spontaneous and most definitely ill-timed visit was not her style. Remembering his conversation with Lip earlier did not make Jason feel any better as Max ducked her head slightly and sighed.

“ Max?” Her silence was deafening as Jason unlocked his door, holding it open for Max who didn't move. “Max?”

The teen finally looked at her brother, “I needed some intelligent company. You got a minute?” Max walked inside without waiting for a response and sat on Jason's bed. He walked over to the television, hit a few switches and handed Max a controller as he sat next to her. Neither talked as the  _ Sega  _ logo flashed across the screen and their favorite Sonic the Hedgehog game started up.  Max allowed herself a small smile as she realized why she had come.

The siblings played in silence, both getting comfortable with old habits they had missed since Jason went away to school. After a few hours and once the sun had went down, Jason paused the game when he couldn't ignore his growling stomach anymore. Max stretched as Jason rifled through a drawer looking for food.

“Where's Hale?”

Jason tossed Max a pudding. “At one of the townhouses most likely, Thirsty Thursday and all.”

Max looked at her watch then back to her brother  to catch a spoon . “Your roommate has a problem.”

“That's the college experience.”

“That's a waste of money,” scoffed Max.  At Jason's obviously judgmental look, Max  shrugged and talked around her spoon, “I get it, honest. But isn't that where he is every Thursday? And Friday?”

Jason sat back down next to Max, opening his own pudding. “True enough,  most of the weekend too . I didn't raise you to be a total  prude though,  did  I?”

Max nudged Jason  with her elbow, “You wish. Then you'd be the cool one. Nah, just pragmatic.”

“You mean cynical.”

“I mean logical.” Max paused a beat. “ But maybe I  am a bad person.” Jason looked at her, staring into her pudding cup and biting her lip.  This was why she was here.

“Who would ever thin-”

“Maybe not bad but definitely not good.”

“Why would you say-”

“Mean. I'm  a  mean person .”

“That's  ridicu-”

“Mean and selfish.  That's what I am. Why should I even both-”

“Max!” Jason had had enough. He grabbed Max's pudding and stood, forcing her to finally look at him. Jason was usually the one person that could read Max but now her expression was blank. He realized what Lip had said a few days ago, about how Max would just sit and stare in school and knew this is what had been going through her head.

Max sat silently, waiting for Jason to say something and afraid of what else she would admit if she opened her mouth again. Jason sighed and pulled over his computer chair to sit in front of Max, holding back her snack when she reached for it. 

“Nope, pudding is a reward. For awesome people and people that still buy vin y l. You get your status back once you stop interrupting me,” Jason narrowed his eyes when Max started to say something. “And when you sack up and tell me what the hell is going on in your head.  Say okay.”

The reply was low, “Okay.”

“Okay,” Jason nodded and leaned forward, resting his arms on his knees. “First, you are not a selfish, mean or bad person Max. I know that the last month or so has been rough and made you think about a lot of shit you've been avoiding for years. But you are not a bad person. No matter what the twins  harangue you about or accuse you of. I know that reason ing and logic  is bringing you there but that's a dark place that you do not want to go to.” 

Max rested her head in her hand and sighed. “ D ark,  dark places...”

“Been there, it's not worth it. Which is why you need to take a breath and let me help.”

The two sat in silence for a minute while Max seemed to collect her thoughts: “I  _ broke _ everything Jason, you warned me and I didn't listen.” Max  shrugged. “I didn't even mean to come here today; I'm a mess and have no clue what I'm doing anymore. I-I don't understand how I've screwed up so badly. I mean, what the hell?” Jason watched as Max's voice raised, working herself up, finally saying everything she's been thinking. “ I've been lying and keeping secrets from both of my closest friends. Why would someone do that to their friends? At 17 years-old I've managed to become the worse kind of lifetime drama full of cliches and back stabbing. Ugghh!! I've literally become the thing I hate the most about  the rest of my generation!”  Max was basically yelling at this point, realized and seemed to catch herself. “ But time is out and the bed I've made is final and all my fault. I just have to  get through the rest of this week. I can do that.  Right.” Max looked to her silent brother. “Right?”

“Is that what you want, though Max?”

She fixed Jason with an icy look.

“The simplest questions are historically the hardest ones for people like us, Max.”

“ People like us? Really?”

Jason chuckled, “ Don't play dumb. We weren't made for it.  Being smarter than everyone  in the room is only a problem when you don't  understand people. That's never been an issue before,  so  don't make it one now.”

Max gazed steadily at the confident boy across from her. “I want to be me again.”

Jason smiled, “Good, because _you_ deserve a pudding” and handed it back to Max who gave a small smile. “I won't tell anyone you came. Although I get it now why you did.” Max met the icy stare that matched her own; she finally understood why she was there as well.

“I appreciate it,” She paused. “And I take it back, what I said in that message about Dmitri.”

“I knew you wouldn't tell her about....that. But thanks.” Jason tossed his cup into the garbage can and looked back to Max who looked doubtful. “You're capable of a lot, Max. But like I said, you're not a bad person.”

Max and Jason went back to the video game, talking a little bit here and there but mostly silent again. Max had needed someone to ground her and quiet all the thoughts in her head; who better than the person she was identical to? _Lip._ Max shushed the thought quickly. True, usually Lip was the person to bring her back down, orient her, put things into perspective. But she had pushed him too far away and she had no reason to think that Lip would want to help her anymore.

Finally Max paused the game and stood, “I should get going, long drive back and I'm sure one of the twins has been screaming for a ride somewhere.”

“Most likely crying at this point. You should get back; big day tomorrow.” Max's apprehension was registered as a slight eyebrow raise.

“Big day?”

“Sure,” Jason said breezily while opening the door. “Last day of high school.”

As she left the dorm building both Max and Jason remembered an old argument from when he was 9 and Max was 7 years-old. Their parents had put them through a series of I.Q. tests at the insistence of the school and neither child had been amused. When they got the results back Jason and Max had stolen the mail and hid it from their parents until their terms were agreed upon. Max would read Jason's results and Jason would read Max's. Their parents got to read them once before shredding the paperwork, with the reassurance that the companies had the results saved.

They fought for days for their parents to understand: Max and Jason didn't want to see their scores; they didn't want to have that knowledge. Because the brother and sister knew that those scores would be internalized, morphed, and become the standard that they would compare themselves to for the rest of their lives, they wouldn't be able to help it. Neither wanted that. Eventually their parents relented, not believing that they were debating with their children under 10 years-old. And so, that was that. Jason knew how smart Max really was and she, him.

It was this fight with their parents that Jason and Max thought of whenever one would surprise the other. Because they knew that they shouldn't be.

Closing her front door quietly behind her, Max grimaced when she heard the foot stomp from the living in response and headed towards the kitchen, grinding her teeth when she heard the footsteps follow.

“Lip called for you. Twice.” Kathryn's words were tight as she stared at Max who was opening a banana.

“That's nice.” Short and sweet. _Please_ _go away._ Max grabbed a bowl and tucked the peanut butter jar under arm, intending to retreat to her room.

“The second time he sounded angry.” Kathryn stood in front of the doorway.

“I'm sure he was touched by your concern.”

“He said you weren't answering your cell phone.” Max rolled her eyes and pushed past her sister, going upstairs. _Dear sweet baby-J._

Kathryn called out after her, “Peanut butter has too many calories!”

“Seriously.” Max shut her door. _Why does she exist?_ Max sat down at her desk and pulled out her planner, looking at all the lists. The items checked off as finished finally outnumbering the tasks that weren't.

Max had just stuck her spoon into the peanut butter jar, thinking how much she wanted the banana and sleep when she heard a voice from behind her, “Where have you been?”

 


End file.
